TAXATION OF DAIRY FARMS 



11 



exempts farming utensils, and 21 which exempts horses and cattle less than one 

 year old, swine and sheep under six months, and domestic fowls not exceeding 

 fifteen dollars in value. 



Three classes of personal property appeared on the Valuation Lists. 



1. Livestock; 2. Machinery and Equipment; 3. Stocks on Hand. 



Except for livestock, where provision is made to list by kind, personal property 

 was seldom identifiable. Occasionally, under the machinery listing there would 

 be a notation of "tractor" or "farm truck." Stocks on hand in a few Instances 

 were found to be apples in storage. Assessors apparently exercise a good deal 

 of latitude in the valuation of some kinds of personal property. 



The valuation lists do not tell us much about machinery. Occasionally, a 

 tractor is identified as such, but for the most part there is no further classifica- 

 tion. Twenty-five percent of the farms had a machinery valuation; the lowest 

 was $20, the highest $5000; and the average $388.80. Of the farms showing 

 machinery valuation 77 percent had less than $500, 12 percent had between 

 $500 and $1000, and 11 percent had $1000 or over. 



Table 8. — Machinery Valuation per Farm. 



It is 'interesting to compare this with the investment in "Machinery and 

 Equipment" reported in a 19421" study of the Returns From Dairy Farming in 

 Massachusetts. The average for all farms in the study was $2051; with $2915 

 for the high income group, $1361 for the medium income group, and $1762 for 

 the low income group. 



Too hast\- conclusions should not be made. No special provision is made for 

 assessing equipment, and on dairA^ farms this item is a valuable one. Cooling 

 tanks, milking machines, cans, etc., can absorb sizable sums. 



Assessment experience with livestock is well illustrated by the valuation of 

 cows. There was a great deal of variation in value per head, and some In method. 

 For the most part, however, the differences were between, rather than within, 

 towns. In a group of eighty-four towns, there were fifty-five that had the same 

 method of uniform valuation applicable to herds (grade or mixed) In that town; 

 twenty-nine towns had more than one value in each town with two of the twenty- 

 nine having four values. 



Values on cows in Grade or Mixed herds ranged from $40 to $200; with cows 

 in 62 percent of the herds valued between $50 and $80 per head. The distribu- 

 tion on a herd basis is given in table 9. Cows in the few purebred herds In the 

 sample were valued at or near $100 per head. The maximum premium in any 

 town over grades was $50 and the minimum, $11. 



^^ Returns from Dairy Farming in Massachusetts in 1942, C. R. Creek, F.M. 15, October 1943. 



