Farmland Assessments Rise Again

Here comes this column topic again: property taxes on farmland are increasing. The base rate for the assessment of an acre of farmland was $1,290 for taxes in 2011. It will be $1,500 per acre for taxes in 2012. And the state's Department of Local Government Finance has announced the base rate will be $1,630 for taxes in 2013.

Farmland is assessed starting with this base rate. It is multiplied by a soil productivity factor, which varies from about 0.5 to 1.3, based on soil type. Some acreage is adjusted by an influence factor, a percentage reduction that accounts for factors such as frequent flooding. The result is the assessed value of farmland. That assessment times the property tax rate, less any credits, is the tax bill.

The base rate is adjusted each year with a formula. The DLGF offers the details on its website, at http://www.in.gov/dlgf/7016.htm. It's complicated, but three of its features tell the story. <Read More>

These Insects Rob for Food, Not Money

Robber fly

Human history has had its share of infamous robbers. In the United States, Jesse James, Bonnie and Clyde, and John Dillinger come to mind. England was home to Robin Hood and Dick Turpin; individuals who it is said sometimes helped themselves to the money of others.

In the interest of full disclosure, to my knowledge, the English outlaw Dick Turpin is not one of my ancestors. While being related to a legendary robber might not seem to be a good thing, in this case, it does have its perks. People with the surname Turpin are sometimes given a free drink at Dick Turpin British pubs!

 Robber fly eating Japanese beetle

The insect world also harbors a band of robbers. Called robber flies, these insects are just as ruthless as robbers of the human kind. But robbers of the insect kind are after food, not money.  <Read More>


Weekly Outlook - Cattle Producers Show Surprise Interest in Expansion

While beef supplies will be very short for several more years, the USDA’s Cattle report indicated that the very early stages of beef cattle expansion has begun as beef heifer retention has increased a modest one percent. However, the big picture is that beef cow numbers dropped 3 percent last year and this will mean a smaller calf crop in 2012 that will keep cattle slaughter small for 2013 and 2014. If producers follow through with more heifer retention in 2012 and 2013, slaughter supplies will decline over the next two years and increase finished cattle prices even more.

There have been two dominate drivers of cow numbers in recent years. The first was the dramatic increases in feed prices after calendar year 2007. The beef industry could not pass higher feed costs on to consumers in 2008 and 2009, but rather had to suffer negative margins. Poor returns led to liquidation of beef cows that has continued into the current report. The second large driver was the drought in the southern Plains in recent years that caused further liquidation of cows due to lack of pasture and forages. <Read More>