Feed Your Car More Corn!

[sithot]

Farm lobby at work again.

https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2017/1...30/?refer=news


"The South Dakota Farmers Union has also spearheaded a push to approve E30 for use in non-flex fuel vehicles. In March its members urged the National Farmers Union to pass a resolution calling for an EPA waiver for E30. More recently, the SDFU’s president has made comments critical of the EPA for not taking up a study on E30 and higher-blend fuels."

[mrgreenjeans]

Yes, the push is strong in MN and ND, two states I am very familiar with, having grown up in the Red River Valley and continuing to have farming interests there. ( Altho we have corn grown on our land, I prefer it's use in the food segment rather than producing alcohol for our cars. ) I use as little as possible of ethanol laced gasoline. And zero use of 'bio-diesel'.

Some local farmers vehemently try to push their agenda desiring a mandate to it's use, simply because in the arena of $2.00 a bushel corn pricing and 200 bushel per acre production, cost of production is nearing 'loss or breaking even' on profitability. Hard to rent land @ over 200 an acre, then plant, fertilize, fungicide, harvest, and rework the ground in the fall with equipment that runs 200-350,000 a unit or more and make things pencil out. Especially with farm subsidies being discontinued to support the program.

Corn is a very controversial subject around here. I don't care for the costs to also ship and store, or haul to the local ethanol plants under contract for virtually pennies of profit per bushel, only to be regulated by my government to burn it instead of having humans or cattle consume it.

And thereby screwing up some of the fuel systems of those vehicles involved in it's production. Or my vintage Porsches used for enjoyment.

I cannot tell you of the heated arguments one hears that involve folks on each side of the fence of corn and ethanol production......sometimes the local restaurants reach a fevered pitch in volatility from proponents to either side of the argument. I no longer go in and have my day ruined by bullies sprouting an agenda, preferring to have lunch at home or in my shop with likeminded fools (-;

Consider this:
my neighbor's 5,000 gallons of diesel fuel ( bio-fuel ) sitting in a storage tank on his farm about 1.5 miles from where I write this, awaiting 'settlement' from the producer because it's unusable due to the bacterial substance growing in it and contaminating the fuel.

Or the guys working at the local ethanol plants pulling in 100 large a year watching dials and taking samples, requiring about 30 minutes of 'real' work every 10 hours. The rest of the time they surf the net and resist the tedium of doing nothing while our tax dollars support an industry better served by another fuel source.

beautiful, just beautiful

[sithot]

Thank you very much.

Tom

PS: Our corn is used for "feed" and it isn't making anyone rich.