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The Rural Voice, 1979-11, Page 34Double cropping predicted for here Jack Tanner, chairman of the crop science department at the University of Guelph, has predicted double cropping to make the most of southwestern Ontario farmland will become more popular in the future. One crop which can be double -cropped is soybeans, Mr. Tanner told farmers at a King Grain research farm near Chatham last month. The problems for growers will lie in harvesting grain before the soybeans are planted. Soybeans are traditionally planted after winter wheat or barley is harvested. The Guelph professor said research shows Maple Arrow soybeans planted in the first week of July will mature before frost 19 out of 20 years. However, weather conditions in July can make soybean germination a problem four years out of 20, Mr. Tanner said. Since most winter wheat is now harvested between July 15 and 23, Mr. Tanner said farmers must learn how to harvest cereal crops early without hurting their value. American growers are already experi- menting with double cropping. Some are using low -tillage techniques, planting soybeans on wheat stubble in harrow rows. Tax savings for livestock, poultry farmers Most taxpayers would jump at the chance to decide how much tax they would like to pay, and then fill out their tax returns accordingly. This option is available only to a select few, however; farmers who raise livestock or poultry are one example. Even then, it works mainly for those who are starting out in thc• farming business. Fortunately, that is the time that a farmer needs tax relief most. This particular tax -saving device is based on the concept of "notional" inventories. It allows a farmer to transfer tax benefit from one year to another, so that he may take maximum advantage of the tax system. With this device, he can set any value he likes on his herd of cattle, or flock of chickens, as long as the value he establishes does not exceed their real value. Then, when he sells them, he can apply the inventory loss against his taxes. Sounds complicated? Here is an ex - PG. 32 THE RURAL VOICE/NOVEMBER ample: A farmer has a herd of beef cattle. He sells them for $30,000 in November, and buys new stock in December for $50,000. Consequently, he has operated at a $20,000 loss for the year, and pays no taxes. The $20,000 loss is carried forward to next year. The next year, he makes a $30,000 profit on his cattle operation. He has a $20,000 loss from the previous year, plus $5,000 in personal exemptions. He thus pays tax on a $5,000 taxable income -- about $825. If he had applied the concept of notional inventories, however, he would have paid no tax at all that second year. It would have required him to establish an inventory value for his herd in the first year of $27,000. Thus, instead of incurring a $20,000 loss in the first year, he makes a $7,000 profit, at least on paper. He applies his personal exemptions of 55,000 to that $7,000 profit in the first year, reducing his taxable income to $2,000. And of course, his taxable income is too low (under $2,300) to pay any tax at all. So far, he is in the same position as he was in the first place. But in the second year, he can write off -- not $20,000 -- but $27,000. This would reduce his taxable income to $3,000, which is too low to take adyantage of his $5,000 exemptions. So he creates a new inventory value for his herd of $4,000, bringing his second year's income up to $7,000. Now he can claim his 55,000 in personal exemptions and escape tax again! The inventory level of $4,000 in the second year can be deducted in future years. The farmer thus saves money two ways: a cash saving of $825 and $4,000 to deduct against taxable income in the future. It may sound complicated, but it's amazing how many livestock and poultry farmers in this country report taxable incomes of exactly $2,300 using this perfectly valid device. Donald Shaughnessy, CA Guelph introduces dairy goat course The Independent Study Program at the University of Guelph is introducing a new correspondence course, Dairy Goat Production. The course was written with the serious goat keeper in mind, although a novice or small scale operator can also benefit from the course. The cost of the independent study program is $60 for Ontario residents and 575 for people living outside the province. The topics covered in the course include choosing a goat, with a look at the various breeds available, production records of breeds and milk recording programs in Canada; nousing, fencing and equipment needed to raise the animals; a chapter on 1979 breeding and reproduction including an examination of problems that might arise; the parturition and care of kids and the feeding and overall nutrition of goats. The last chapter in the course focuses on goat's milk and it's uses. Goat's milk has unique buffering and digestive qualities that set it aside from cow's milk for people with allergies or stomach problems. The milk can be made into cheese, butter, yogurt or ice cream. Measuring manganese Invisible elements in the soil are often critical to plant growth. The building blocks are nitrogen, phosphorous and potash, but other elements - micro- nutrients - can be just as important. Tests have been devised to monitor soil "health", but some micronutrients are unmeasurable. Staff at the Ontario Soil Testing Laboratory hope to select a method for measuring one micronutrient known as manganese. Although plant analysis is used to measure manganese, no soil test has been evaluated for Ontario conditions. Plant analysis is limited in its use because samples must be taken at specific stages of plant growth. More definite tests are needed for manganese and other micro- nutrients such as boron and zinc. Micronutrients, measured in parts per million (ppm), are needed in very small quantities. Deficiencies are present in some soils. but they can be aggravated by erosion or high crop yields. Without manganese. for example, the growth of soybeans. barley, and winter wheat can often be stunted. Manganese deficiency in soybeans causes the leaf area between the veins to turn pale green. and in oats and barley, it causes gray oval-shaped spots to appear on the lower leaves. Researchers are analyzing several chem- icals to find one which will simulate the manganese extracting activities of growing plants. "Eight to ten chemical extractants have been tested under controlled conditions in a greenhouse." says Professor Bates. "About SO to 60 Ontario soils, supporting soybeans and barley, have been tested for manganese availability. We have a 75 per cent success rate in determining amounts of manganese in the greenhouse situ- ation." Meanwhile, field tests are in progress on winter wheat in Norfolk and Elgin counties where manganese deficiencies are a prob- lem in some sandy soils. Standardizing a test tor Ontario soil conditions is difficult because extractants that are successful in other regions are often not accurate for our soils.