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DAIRY ST R “All dairy, all the time”™
Volume 19, No. 23
Tax code may benet farmers but revisions necessary By Jennifer Coyne jenn@dairystar.com
RINGLE, Wis. – When President Trump signed the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) into law Dec. 22, 2017, it became the most comprehensive overhaul to the United State’s tax code in more than 30 years. With that, businesses large and small sought how their tax portfolio would change – and the dairy industry was no exception. “It’s hard to speculate right now how this could all work; each farm will be affected differently,” James Juedes said. Juedes and his wife, Joanne, milk 60 cows 10 miles east of Wausau, Wis., in Marathon County. The farm is operated as a sole proprietorship. As the law is further developed and understood, Juedes has worked with his accountant to envision how the changes will reect in his dairy business. Of the individual and business changes noted in the tax reform, the most notable for the dairy sector include: Personal property is no longer eligible in a Section 1031 exchange; Section 179 increased to $1 million and a $2.5 million threshold for purchases; Accelerated depreciation increased to 100 percent on new and used property; a seven-year class life on new farming assets was shortened to ve years; Corporation rate is set at 21 percent; and DPAD was repealed and replaced with a 20 percent deduction on Qualied Business Income. “The tax package will ultimately result in lower taxes for farmers,” said Amber Hanson-Glaeser of Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation. “There’s a lot of good things Turn to TAX | Page 5
January 27, 2018
“Everyone is just superb. They knew they had to keep the farm going.” – Bruce Asfeld
The power of many
Asfeld recoups with support from family, neighbors By Jennifer Coyne Staff Writer
WEST UNION, Minn. – In Bruce Asfeld’s 24 years of dairy farming, he has never taken an extended leave of absence from the farm – that was until the afternoon of Dec. 3, when he tore the muscle that surrounds his right kneecap. Now, after nearly eight weeks in a brace, Bruce is improving his mobility and able to return to the farm in small capacities. “Sitting in the house is not for me,” Bruce said. “When you spend 24 years building this up, you have to know what’s going on, and I’m glad to be working Turn to ASFELD | Page 11
MARK KLAPHAKE/DAIRY STAR
Bruce Asfeld (right) is recovering from a knee injury that occurred Dec. 3 at his 110-cow dairy near West Union, Minn. The farm has remained operaƟonal with help from friends and family, including (from leŌ) neighbor, Ryan Pallow; son, Jonathon; wife, Rose; and daughter, Nicole.
Everyone happy with robots at Du-Ayr Dairy Dubans build facility to replace outdated barn By Krista Kuzma
krista.k@dairystar.com
FARIBAULT, Minn. – The Dubans feel their cows are thriving in their new environment. They say they can tell partly by the way the cows greet them upon entering a pen. “When we go in the pen and the cows are licking our coats, I always think they’re telling us, ‘Thank you. We don’t have to be outside all the time anymore,’” Paul Duban said. The people are also happy at Du-Ayr Dairy, where Paul and Audrey Duban along with their daughter, Clarissa, Clarissa’s ancé, Shawn Suess, and their sons, Scott and Chad, built a new milking facility with two robots to accommodate their herd of 120 cows near Faribault, Minn. The 70- by 242-foot barn has 126 sand bedded stalls and drive-by feeding. There is a pen for each robot. The Dubans separate the cows into pens KRISTA KUZMA/DAIRY STAR based on size because of the herd’s mix of breeds. Clarissa Duban wipes the screen on one of the two roboƟc milkers on her While Holsteins make up about 50 percent of the herd, Ayrshires total 40 percent with the rest being family’s 120-cow dairy near Faribault, Minn. Jersey. Turn to DUBANS | Page 6