It’s been good to have a cool spring, but it now looks like the hot, humid summer has arrived. We certainly have not lacked for rain. The mid-Michigan area had 11 inches of rain in May and it still seems to rain several days a week. Many farmers have suffered through the wet weather for planting crops. It will be interesting next maple season to see how producers are impacted by the moisture level.

The 2004 maple season was very good over most of the state. The sugar content appeared to be higher than normal and the syrup remained very light. There were a couple of producers who indicated that they made very little light syrup, but this was not the rule.

Earlier this year, several producers were notified by their tax assessors that their property had been reclassified from agricultural to residential. I did put a message on our web-site, but only three people responded to my inquiry. The State Tax Commission has stated that the definition of “agricultural use,” contained in P.A. 116 of 1974, is different from the definition of “agricultural operations,” contained in MCL 211.9(j). A letter written in January 2000 from Dennis Platte, Executive Secretary, State Tax Commission to Gerard Markey, Dir. Marquette Co. Equalization Dept. explains the difference. Since the letter is three pages long, we have not printed it. If your property was re-classified to residential, your tax assessor probably provided you with a copy. There is also a lengthy Bulletin 4 of 1997 from the State Tax Commission defining qualified agricultural property.

The MMSA Board of Directors discussed this issue and agreed that we should support any action taken by producers to change the policy. The Board decided that we would appoint a liaison person to work with the producers to assist with any action needed with the Dept. of Treasury and/or the local tax commissions to change the legislation. I have contacted Mary Douglass and discussed this position with her and she has agreed to serve as our coordinator for this project. Since we currently only know of four producers who were re-classified, we would like you to contact Mary if your property has been re-classified. She can be reached at (517) 349-5185, or SBFarms@concentric.net.

We are sorry that Deb Thomas was not able to get enough participation for the NAMSC and IMSI meetings in Lake George, NY this October, so we had to cancel the trip.

Enclosed you will find our fall tour information that Craig Arnold has organized. We hope to see you at the tour on September 25th.

We also want you to mark your calendars for our winter meeting next January. We will again return to the Doherty Hotel in Clare on January 22, 2005.

HAVE A GREAT SUMMER!!

Jean Maday, President