of cows per mile of route. For this minimum distance transportation model, 

 density was 13.5 cows per mile for both pre- and post-Soil Bank condi- 

 tions. It could be concluded that with the anticipated institutional change 

 to bulk milk handling, the Soil Bank Program will not influence milk 

 hauling charges in the two towns with the largest acreages enrolled in 

 the Program. 



'o' 



Farm Transfer and Expansion 



A third way in which the Soil Bank Program affects agriculture in an 

 area is its influence on farm expansion, farm transfers, and beginning 

 farmers. Some farmers reach retirement age each year and the farm 

 ownership must be transferred for operations to continue. Several Soil 

 Bank cooperators were shown to have retired when they placed their 

 farms in the Bank. In the pre-Soil Bank era, some farm transfers were 

 not made immediately and the resources were so downgraded in quality 

 that they will never be used again as an independent unit or at all in 

 agricultural production. In light of this, some cooperators who ceased 

 operations and placed their land holdings in the Soil Bank did not neces- 

 sarily interfere with the transfer of farms. Interference occurs, however, 

 when an alternative farm is removed from consideration by a prospective 

 farmer seeking a farm to purchase. Also, the price of farms up for sale 

 is bid higher than the price would be in the absence of the Soil Bank 

 Program because there are fewer farms for the same number of pro- 

 spective farmers to bid for. 



Farmers interested in expanding size of operation by adding land are 

 also influenced by the Program and by the above reasons. These operators 

 pre bidding for a smaller amount of land. Profit-maximizing land owners 

 would not sell their land now for less than the discounted yield in Soil 

 Bank payments plus the discounted prospective price of the land at the 

 end of the contract period. 



The net result then appears to be higher prices for farms and farm land 

 due to the land owner being placed in the better bartering position, caus- 

 ing fewer new farming starts by prospective farmers and fewer expansion 

 possibilities for operating farmers. However available knowledge and data, 

 do not permit appraisal of the quantitative effects of the Program on farm 

 expansion and new farming starts. 



OTHER ECONOMIC EFFECTS OF THE SOIL BANK PROGRAM 



The previous discussion dealt with the more obvious economic effects 

 of the Program on the County economy. Other impacts of the Program 

 should be considered. Although they are less tangible, they are important 

 to the long-run welfare of the people of the County. 



Town Tax Problems 



The effect of the Program on the individual town tax structure is via 

 the tax base, with the magnitude depending on the method of determining 

 the assessed valuation. Towns differ so greatly in the way values on proper- 

 ty are established that it is impossible to appraise quantitatively the impact 

 of the Soil Bank land enrollment on the town tax position. The land and 



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