Lee, It is obvious to me that you did not come from an agricultural background. I, on the other hand, know very little about the jewelry industry. But, the fact that I have a couple nice pieces of jewelry does not permit me to converse knowledgeably on the subject matter. However, I have always held any information you sent me concerning Mercedes diesels in high regard.
Farming, like any jewelry store, grocery store or refinery is a business that must turn a profit to remain a viable entity. All are subject to the laws of supply and demand. As someone with a fairly strong chemistry background, I can tell you that fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides can be synthesized by alternative means just as fuels but at a much higher cost. When gasoline was selling for approximately $1.35 a gallon a couple years ago, it was not cost effective for ethanol and biodiesel manufacturing facilities to try to market their product. Would you have paid $3-4.00 a gallon for ethanol only to get half the MPG in return or a similar price for the biodiesel when diesel was $1.00. Every person or business (unless you're the Federal Government) has a limited amount of money to spend each month for fuel, groceries, insurance, etc. With the price of fuel at $2.50 and climbing, alternative fuels will soon appear to be a practical choice to the consumer. And, when they become more common, as in the case of computers, the price may be driven even lower. Other factors could also come into play that could affect those numbers as well, but we just don't know what exactly is going to happen next. You had asked for some numbers so I will give you a few. In the 1970-71 time frame, our new pickup truck cost $2,700.00, offroad diesel was 16.5 cents per gallon and our new tractor was $11,000.00 while corn fluctuated around $2.00 a bushel. The Dodge pickup we purchased a couple years ago was $35,000.00. Offroad fuel is now over $2.00 a gallon and a tractor rated at the same horsepower is $45,000.00 (We still use the 1971 model as a primary tractor). I won't even bring up insurance, utilities, property tax or health care. Sadly enough, corn is now selling at approximately $2.30 per bushel while soybeans are selling for less now than they did 35 years ago. Chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and petroleum-driven cultivation have just barely afforded farmers the opportunity to stay in farming. The only way to offset the increasing cost of overhead while the price of our product remained unchanged was to increase production through the utilization of these products. Your question almost makes me wonder if you think we should plow the fields with horses and raise our middle finger to the oil companies. If so, I would hope that you would join us and ride your horse to work each day and care for it as well. The lack of profit as well as health care and retirement in the farming industry has required almost all of those who remain to have primary jobs to support their desire to farm. Our community, which was once primarily agricultural, now consists mostly of what we call "hobby farms." It is in our heritage to farm, but unfortunately farming has become more of a tax deduction than a way of life as it used to be. When a farmer dies, more often then not, the farm is subdivided and sold in parcels. Why would anyone in the family want to borrow hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy out their siblings only to make next to nothing in return? I have to laugh each time I walk through the grocery store and see a box of cereal with a nickel's worth of corn in it sell for between $3 and 4.00! Have you ever lay awake at night and wondered how you were going to make your mortgage payment if no rain were to come (as I have this year)? Or the opposite, if it would not stop raining (as the previous two years). I have often thought I might be better ahead to take the money used to put out our crops and fly to Las Vegas. I truly think the odds are nearly the same. Anyhow, I didn't mean to get off the subject but I hope I have put things into a little better perspective for you. The numbers I supplied you with are factual. Without the use of fertilizers herbicides and petroleum-driven cultivation, farms would cease to exist as we now know them. -Scott Levengood -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Lee Einer Sent: Tuesday, July 19, 2005 11:19 AM To: Mercedes mailing list Subject: Re: [MBZ] ethanol and biodiesel - waste of energy? Does anyone have unbiased, objective numbers supporting the contention that transition to sustainable agriculture would result in widespread famine? I am sure that's Monsanto's official position, but I don't believe that it is unquestioned and immutable truth. Lee Kaleb C. Striplin wrote: > yep, and that is where the problems start. No more oil=alot less food > and higher price of it and mass death rates. > > David Brodbeck wrote: > >> Lee Einer wrote: >> >>> Obviously, for most of human >>> history, we have farmed successfully without reliance on petroleum >>> products. >> >> >> >> That's because, for most of human history, there was a hell of a lot >> fewer of us. >> >> Eliminate chemical fertilizers, peticides, and petroleum-driven >> cultivation and you dramatically reduce the earth's carrying capacity. >> >> _______________________________________ >> For used parts email [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> For new parts see www.buymbparts.com >> For repairs see www.oldworldauto.com >> >> To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: >> http://striplin.net/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_striplin.net >> >> >> > -- Lee Einer Dos Manos Jewelry http://www.dosmanosjewelry.com _______________________________________ For used parts email [EMAIL PROTECTED] For new parts see www.buymbparts.com For repairs see www.oldworldauto.com To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://striplin.net/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_striplin.net
