Renewed interest The idea of turning farm crops into fuel has intrigued a lot of folks recently, especially when American motorists were suf fering through gas lines and record '"nigh fuel prices. From a consumer point of view that interest has ebbed somewhat, but it was never more on the minds of farmers than it is right now as they face disastrous crop incomes. Extremely low cash prices for 6030 Jonestown Rd. ASSOCIATION of Harrisburg Pa. 17112 DIESEL SPECIALISTS 717 545-5931 Interstate 81 Exit 26 25th ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL Alert Water Separator Complete w Alarm, Brackets & Fittings *49.50 Easy to Install as YOUR DIESEL REAOY-EQS WINTER OPERATION? We are The Master Warehouse Distributor for your diesels best friend FPPF FUEL ADDITIVES Totally disperses water to improve starting, prevent fuel line freezing/ clogging ADD FPPF MOW - BEFORE WINTER ARRIVES!! Daily shipments by UPS, Parcel Post, or our representative who is in the area regularly. 1 111 iI * SATURDAY, JANUARY 8 Lancaster Farming's Annual PA. FARM SHOW ISSUE ■ Featuring... ★ Special Farm Show Stories ★ DHIA Reports ★ Keystone Farmer Resumes f ★ Complete Farm Show Schedule j ★ And Many Extra Features 1 ADVERTISERS: Plan Now to be represented ) in this Special Issue. Deadline December 29. Farm Talk Jerry Webb the nation’s corn crop are causing farmers to wonder if there isn’t something they can do besides feed it to livestock. And therein lies the interest in gasohol and all of the other fuel uses that have been proposed, imagined, even tested. For a while there were gas pumps at many stations with illustrations of ears of com and the term “gasohol” in big letters. But they’ve just about disappeared. A general lowering of fuel prices apparently forced the gasohol pumps right out of business. And while motorists were receptive to the idea, they weren't willing to pay a little more for a product that was generally understood to be a better product. There’s no doubt that gasohol can be produced and that large sums of U.S. grain could be turned into alcohol for use in that way. But for a number of reasons, it just isn’t happening. If you think the idea of mixing alcohol and gasoline for motor fuel is a new one, forget it. It’s been around almost forever. And if you don’t think old problems keep reoccurring, consider this statement from the Congressional Record of Jan. 28,1935: “We must alter our internal economy by processing surplus farm crops into alcohol to be mixed with gasoline in the proportion of 10 percent. We will be able to establish a balanced agriculture, a balanced industry, and preserve for ourselves the greatest market in all the world namely the market in our land for our own people. It is a kind of diver sification through which we can preserve an internal prosperity and rid ourselves of a dangerous dependence on other nations.” That statement came from Illinois Senator Everett Dirksen almost SO years ago in the midst of the very worst of times for far mers. Had we followed his advice we might not be in the mess we’re in now both energy wise and farm production wise. Sad to say, American farmers have been promised a booming market for their output for so many years and it’s just never materialized. Oh sure, there were a few boom years here and there, but there have been so many bust years that farmers have forgotten about the few good ones. They do remember the promises and the hope of new markets, new op portunities, of all-out agricultural production and the prosperity that would go with it. And yet, here they are again with a record crop, a tremendous surplus, crop prices below the cost of production for a number of major commodities, and a dependence on a world market that just isn’t materializing. Secretary of Agriculture John Block is telling our foreign com petitors to knock off the govern ment subsidies and allow American farm produce to com pete on an even footing. But that’s not going to happen. Those countries that are subsidizing their agriculture are doing so for their own good internal reasons. They’re not about to cut it out to suit a U.S. secretary of agriculture or to save some brankrupt American far mers. President Reagan says we won’t use agricultural embargoes as a weapon. But do foreign buyers renliv h*>iipve him 9 No doubt the Berks holds annual tree sale LEESPORT - The 9th Annual Tree Seedling Sale conducted by the Berks County Conservation District is now underway. The District is offering a wide variety of quality stock tree seedlings at a low price for the promotion and encouragement of aesthetic and environmental improvement. Pre-paid orders will be taken during January, February and March with the deadline for orders being March 31,1983. The pickup dates are Friday, April 22 and Saturday, April 23. Trees will be picked up at the Lancaster Farming, Friday, December 24,1982—837 messing around that has been done with our foreign customers over the past several years has had a serious impact on our export market. The people who study export markets seem to think depen dability is the watchword. Japan used to be heavily dependent on the U.S. for soybeans, and then somebody got the bright idea to have an embargo. That scared the Japanese government nearly to death, so they went out and found some other sources and they’ve been using them ever since. We still have a market in Japan, but not the market we should have and by no means not the total market that could have been ours. While America may seem a fickle supplier in the world market, it must also be remem bered that the world market is a fickle customer. American 1 far mers who are counting on that world market to bail them out face some difficult prospects. Besides gum beating, there’s very little we can do to force those countries to take our produce. We’re not the only country with com and soybeans to sell, and our prices aren't always the best. So don’t expect the world to be our salvation. Instead, it seems to me we must look to ways within this country to utilize our agricultural abundance. Alcohol production seems to be the most obvious and the easiest answer. Why it hasn’t worked in more than 50 years of advocacy is a mystery to me, and why with long-term prospects of severe fuel shortages we aren’t doing more with gasohol is amazing. It is time for some national efforts aimed at bringing America’s farm surpluses and fuel shortages together toward a common solution. Agricultural Center across from Berks Heim. Varieties being offered this year are; Austrian pine, Colorado blue spruce, Douglas fir, Scotch pine, white pine, arborvitae, black locust, hemlock, red maple, silver maple, white birch and blue rug juniper (groundcover). The tree sale is open to everyone and there are no planting restrictions, use restrictions or quality limitations. To receive an order form, call the Berks Conservation District at 215/372-4655.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers