MADISON, Wis. -- The future of a statewide effort to curb animal disease outbreaks by creating an animal tracking system is up in the air after a packed hearing on Wednesday yielded more questions than answers

Confusion over whether Wednesday's Department of Agriculture's Board Of Agriculture, meeting was a public hearing fueled an already fiery controversy mostly among small and medium-sized farmers and members of the Amish community, WISC-TV reported.

The meeting was standing room only as some of the farmers, including some Amish, blasted a new state law that forces those with livestock to sign up for a federal number that registers their farm.

Officials said that Wisconsin is the first state in the nation to pass a mandatory system, called "premises registration," and will include farmers with cows, sheep or other livestock. The information will be stored by a privately-held company.

According to the department's Web site, officials believe it's a "necessary first step toward tracking animals individually."

Most of those at the hearing said that they had problems with that idea and the state law. The critics said that the proposal is everything from illegal to unfair to ineffective at stopping disease, WISC-TV reported. Many farmers said that they don't see a need or are wary of what this will lead to at the federal level.

Dairy farmer Jeff Pausma said that he is opposed to premises registration.

"You're going to say, 'You're hurting us,' because we're not taking your ID," he said. "Well, those are my girls. God gave them to me and I'm not putting a tag in them so you inventory them and keep track of them from satellites in the sky!"

Fellow dairy farmer Dave Schmidt, of Menomonie, said the idea creates more hassles.

"I don't need any more work. I don't need any more expense!" he said.

Deb Reinhart, a dairy producer and chairman of the Wisconsin Livestock Identification Consortium, which is under contract with the state to collect and store the code, said that the law will likely limit the costs associated with a disease outbreak.

"I want to be able to address animal disease quickly to reduce the loss and suffering and economic impact on my business and other businesses," she said. "If my business is jeopardized, I have lost everything that I have. That is my 401K."

Some Amish farmers said that they're opposed to the law on religious grounds. They said their beliefs bar getting assigned government numbers.

Department officials said that the code isn't an individual animal identification system even though its Web site calls it "the first step towards one."

The department has sent letters to farmers, including to all dairy plants, urging them to get unregistered producers registered or face loss of their milk licenses, WISC-TV reported.

Democratic Rep. Barb Gronemus, who was the co-author of the original state law, said that penalizing farmers was never the intent of the legislation.

Supporters said that they need 100-percent compliance in order to quickly contain animal disease outbreaks.

Department officials said that a May 1 deadline has been established, but they aren't sure whether it will be enforced given the concerns raised.