20070601 Farmers struggling with high fuel prices

Farmers struggling with high fuel prices

http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/display.htm?StoryID=60830

Originally published June 01, 2007, By Pamela Rigaux, Frederick News-Post Staff

People who believe paying $40 for a tank of gasoline is bad might think twice if they considered what farmers spend.

The money they drop on fuel for diesel equipment would blow the top off of most household budgets.

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Dairy farmers have their own share of chores requiring equipment fueled by diesel. Filling empty feed bins with silage periodically involves chopping and hauling it twice a day, Page said. Then there is the harvesting of crops, which comes later in the season.

Farmers are constantly looking for ways to reduce fuel consumption, sometimes with more or less success.

[…]

Five years ago, diesel averaged about $1.30 a gallon; now it's $2.82, according to data collected by the U.S. Energy Information Agency, said Doug MacIntye, an EIA oil analyst. Even adjusting for inflation, prices are up almost 100 percent in five years.

"You can't offset fuel costs farming," (Frederick businessman Eddie) Mercer noted. "The market sets the price of commodities."

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