A3O-LancMter Farming, Saturday, April 3 1993 WALTER B. WURSTER Dairy Agent Chester Co. Extension WEST CHESTER (Chester Co.) Property taxes and fanning are not a good match. Farmers in Chester County are nervous today when they hear words like millage increase, government and school budget increases, and especially, re-assessment Property taxes, which may have been fair in Colonial days when large land owners such as George Washing ton and Thomas Jefferson were the richest people in the community, no longer relate to a person’s ability to pay. It is time for a change in state law to align taxation to income rather than land ownership. If not, the beautiful farms that make Chester County a special place to live will gradually disappear, replaced by row after row of houses. So, what should dairymen and other farmers be doing about this dilemma? The best solution is to shift some of the tax burden from real estate to income as mentioned above, but that takes action by the state legislature. Farmers should continue to petition their representa tives for legislation to correct this problem. However, don’t expect overnight action, because this topic has been debated for years with little or no results. Another method to deal with the problem is to get some relief through either of two reduced assessment laws. Act 515, an open space program, has been used in Chester County for over 20 years to preserve open space by offering a lower assessment of land over 10 acres. This translates into lower taxes, but there is still no limitation on millage increases by schools, townships and the county, so tax bills gradually creep up. Act 319, a farmland assessment program, also offers reduced assessments on the land and is determined by a formula based on the productivity of the various soils on that farm. This program has not been widely used in Chester County because the agricultural values for the land have not been updated in 15 years. They are based on farm prices in the late 1970 s which were consider ably higher than today’s prices. County government is now considering new values based on current farm income and expenses for three major crops com, wheat and hay at four diffe rent yield levels. GLENN'S UDDERINGS GLENN A. SHIRK Extension Dairy Agent Lancaster County, Pa. DHIA Standardized 150-Day Milk Dairy farmers are anxious to learn how much milk their cows are averaging per day. They also want to know if production is going up or going down, and there are some good reasons why they want to know this. First of all, it helps to determine the size of their milk check. It also serves as a By Glenn A. Shirk Extension- Dairy Agent guide for grouping and feeding cows. And, it indicates how the herd has responded to manage ment and to its environment. Many things affect cows’ milk production from day to day, and from month to month, some of which are: 1. Days in milk; 2. Environment- housing and climatic conditions; 3. General care and manage ment of the herd; 4. Feeds- kind, quality and availability; Chester County DHIA ■ March 1993 Cows producing over 800 lbs. protein are: Joseph & Sandra Lusby Minnie DH Lonehill Farm 63 Marilyn & Duane Hershey Dona Bear Spring Aqua Farm 129 Ardrossan Farms T Eyes Merle J. King Isabel Chris & Ches Stoltzfus Anette Lucille Ridge Stir Farm 9 52 60 Tim h Phyllis Barlow Neva Kevin Stahlnecker 0150 Herman Stoltzfus Brandi Dale Hostetler L-Bug Wilkinson Farm 1 2521 2631 Samuel G. Stoltzfus 14 Robert & Betty Peifer 62 69 Breck-A-De Farm 88 Pei-V.Ulcy Farm 62 69 This concept is fairer than some present values because it relates the assessment to the quality of the soil on each farm. An acre of soil capable of only yielding 90 bushels of com, 30 bushels of wheat, or 1.5 tons per acre of hay will have a lower assessment than an acre of Class I soil producing 150 bushels of com, 50 bushels of wheal or 4 tons of hay. The owners of lower class soils would pay less taxes because of the lower yields and lower income that could be realized from an acre of that soil. Both Act 515 and Act 319 have some limitations, such as roll-back taxes that are due if the use of the land is changed to lessen the restr ictions on splitting off lots or building on sections of the farm. Also, farm buildings and the farm house are not eligible for reduced assessments. However, until something better comes along, they partially help to reduce the lax burden. Farmers need to continually urge state and county government officials to change the tax laws and 5. Cow physiology and disor ders - infections, injuries, repro ductive status, etc. How well is your herd doing this month compared to the last month or two, or compared to a year ago? Did a change in feed or a change in the feeding program have any effect on production? Was it beneficial to house the herd during the heat of summer? How much impact did tunnel ventila tion have on summer milk production? Average daily milk production per cow can help provide some answers to these questions. These figures are found on the Penna. DHIA Herd Summary II report, and on the Raleigh DHIA Herd n«vc MHUOCO TEST DAY AVERAGES _ TA . in .„„ T , CT TEST DAY AVERAGES ROLLING YEARLY DATE D W S COWS E |N (MILKING COWS) (ALL COWSI HERD AVERAGE T ?f r TEST HERDON “ 150 DAY PERSIST . Itv PERIOD TEST DAY DAYS IN MILK MILK INDEX %IN MILK '.FAT % PROT MILK FAT PROT MiIK MILK month dropped 31 HR IS6 51*7 5 2*l 93 50 39*2 3*9 2,> 2d178 763 622 8- 26 129 129 6S.'(T SI ,3 121 ~181 49V9 3.7 20083 762 620 9- 34 127 129 67.8 63.9 103 82 53.4 3.9 3.1 20183 770 626 10- 26 131 127 72.5 68.1 106 85 . 60.9 3.8 3.2 20269 777 632 11- 30 133 137 72.4 69.8 100 86 60.9 4.1 3.1 20350 783 637 12- 28 128 ISO 74.2 74,1 103 91 66,7 3.9 3.3 20397 788 641 1- 33 127 163 73.2 76.1 100 92 66.9 4.0 3.2 20518 794 647 2- 30 123 175 68.2 73.5 93 94 63.8 3.8 3.2 20504 793 648 3- 36 123 194 67,9 77.8 100 93 62.4 3.8 3.0 20522 792 647 4- 25 125 205 61.3 72.9 89 90 55.4 3.6 3.2 20653 797 649 5- 36 124 204 62.3 73.8 101 77 47.7 3.8 3.0 20727 799 650 6- 26 122 192 57.8 65.8 91 69 39.3 3.7 3.1 20622 793 646 j 7-17-90 33 122 180 58.6 64.2 100 69 38.4 3.9 3.0 20946 804 659 | 4WERB6ES 30 126 165 66.8 69.8 101 86 55.5 3.8 3.1 1323 32,384 3-04 28,133 5-01 1112 1064 32,159 24,127 4-08 3-06 27,996 6-06 1048 24,638 2-04 1004 26,327 6-07 1004 905 29,488 27.800 7-04 4-04 898 1015 918 28,346 26,360 24,199 3-05 3-05 2-1 L 27,591 3-00 1062 26,585 3-00 1016 30,061 4-02 1267 26,821 5-06 27,926 26,897 6-06 5-03 26,082 4-04 1020 1020 27.646 31.500 7-08 7-07 1085 27,084 4-10 1018 920 7-08 7-07 27,609 28,548 to use what help is presently avail able to ease the tax burden on real estate. When reassessment takes place in Chester County, it is essential that Act 515 assessments be kept low and that new current farmland values be adopted for Act 319 so that farmers have a choice of the programs that are fair and that suit their operation. Farmland assessment may be only a small piece in the puzzle to preserve agriculture in Chester County, but all opportunity must be explored. Let’s hope stale and county government takes the appropriate action soon. Chester County DHIA has some openings for new herds. With the many options available from Pa.DHIA today, there is a program to fit all types of dairies. Call Dan Miller at (215) 869-2604, for more information. Summary Report, a portion of which is shown in Table 1. Table 1. (Note to the editor; Table 1 is the enclosed Yearly Production and Mastitis Sum mary. Two identical tables are enclosed; one lighter and one darker. Choose the one most appropriate for your use.) Most of us are very familiar with test-day average milk per cow for cows in milk. It shows what the milking herd actually produced on test day. However, it is NOT the best figure for evaluat ing or comparing the effect that feed, management, weather and the environment have on cows’ average daily production because of the influence that days in milk Lynnport Kermit K. Kistler Implement 215-298-2011 1019 Mansfield Lake Country 1034 856 Marine 717-662-2255 Mars M.R, Moody Sales & Service 412-625-1935 Millerstown R.E. Davidson & Son 717-444-3670 Mt. Bethel Horn’s Outdoor Center 215-588-6614 Mt. Joy J & H Cycle Accessories 717-653-5672 Murrysville Bentley’s Yamaha Suzuki 412-325-2344 Parkerford Leisure Equipment Incorporated 215-495-7122 Pittman Schreffler Equipment 717-648-1120 Punxsutawney East American Motors 814-938-4230 Reading Ray’s Motor Service 215-582-2700 Sharon Doctor Jerry’s Cycle 412-981-7282 Smithton Andy's Automotive 412-872-0700 St. Mary’s Grotzmger 814-834-4917 YEARLY PRODUCTION AND MASTITIS SUMMARY State College Track N Trail Honda 814-237-2581 Towanda Rolling Acres 717-265-3400 Trevose Bromley Motorcycle Sales 215-357-1534 Verona Dirty Harry’s Dirt Bikes 412-828-2667 Wapwallopen Blue Ridge Truck Parts 717-868-3402 York The Workshop 717-846-5146 NEW JERSEY DEALERS Bricktown Kurt’s Marine Polaris 908-920-7669 Elmer Sam’s Super Service 609-358-3488 Ledgewood Ledgewood Kawasaki 201-584-6488 Pompton Plains Kosco Harley- Davidson 201-831-1700 Somers Point Waterfront Marina 609-926-1700 Vineland Lilhston Polaris 609-691-2020 POLRRIS Believe It. ©1993 Rolans Industries L P have on production. A more accu rate figure to use is the standar dized 150-day milk. It is an esti mate of what cows actually pro duced, or will produce, at 150 days in milk. Thus, it helps to eli minate variations in average daily milk that are causesd by days in milk. Let’s compare data in Table 1 as an example. Average test-day milk for the milking herd reached a high of 74.2 pounds per cow per day in December. Then, it slid down wards for six straight months, bot toming out at 57.8 pounds in June. This 16.4 pound drop is enough to catch anyone’s attention and cause them to ask some serious ques- {Turn to Pag* A 3 5)
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