More than a month ago, Gov.Tony Evers issued the emergency order directing citizens to stay at home and non-essential businesses and operations to close until April 24 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Concerns have only mounted since then, coming to a head recently when Evers extended the safer at home order until May 26.

Not long after announcing the extension and unveiling his Badger Bounce Back plan to get Wisconsin safely reopened, Evers, a Democrat, was met with backlash as Wisconsin Republicans expressed their own concerns, stating the order goes too far and has far-reaching economic and human impacts throughout the state.

I have heard from business owners and farmers in my district who are losing everything that they have worked for their entire life. They cannot endure this shutdown much longer, said Rep. Todd Novak, a Republican who represents Assembly District 51 in southwest Wisconsin. Im concerned about my businesses and farmers being able to survive.

Our hard-working constituents are ready to go back to work to support their families and communities. It is unfair to ask them to sacrifice these things for so long, said Rep. Treig Pronschinske, a Republican who represents Assembly District 92 in northwest Wisconsin.

With the Wisconsin Department of Health Services reporting that 60% of the states 72 counties have fewer than 10 cases, and 10% of those 72 counties have no reported cases, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald have now decided to challenge the governors action by asking the Wisconsin State Supreme Court to weigh in.

We continue to call on the governor to retreat from his one-size-fits-all approach and allow the state to safely open up regionally so people can get back to work, Republicans Vos and Fitzgerald said in a joint statement. Wisconsin is a diverse state; obviously, the Northwoods cant be treated like Dane and Milwaukee counties.

Farmers, who are no stranger to uncertainty, especially over the past several years, have expressed their frustrations with the stay-at-home order extension as well.

For Joe Bragger, president of the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation and a dairy farmer in Buffalo County, most farmers understand the logic of herd immunity and the dangers of disease spread when something enters a herd that does not have a vaccine.

Taking proactive measures to keep livestock healthy and following biosecurity protocol on the farm is nothing new, he said. But at the same time, as a farmer, I am no stranger to the pain the agricultural community is feeling as a result of this pandemic.

Farmers are incredible people. Even while they face some of the most challenging times in recent memory, they are not afraid to step up and help people in need. Continue to support each other, because together is the only way we will get through this.

Bob Uphoff, a pork producer in south central Wisconsin, said theyve had zero sales of pork products since the first week of March because of the closure of restaurants. He had spoken to his distributors last week, and had hoped to have a possible production run on April 27.

Once the governor extended the closure of restaurants, we were back to no orders, he said. With the closure of major packing facilities in the Midwest, we are unable to get any hogs moved until sometime in May.

The Wisconsin Dairy Alliance, along with 18 other Wisconsin trade associations and 33 Wisconsin Chambers of Commerce, signed a letter to the governor in early April, urging him to begin the process of reopening the state on April 24, when the safer at home order was originally set to expire.

This was the last scenario dairy farmers anticipated, the Wisconsin Dairy Alliance said in a news release. Prompt action is critical to save this essential industry.

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Stay-at-home extension causes tension throughout the state - Leader-Telegram