Cruisers
ST. LOUIS, 111. Darrell
Mortland expects a lot of drive
bys. In fact, he’s hoping for
them.
Calhoun County, Illinois,
sits slightly more than a stone’s
throw northeast of the St. Louis
metropolitan area and its 2.5
million residents. City dwellers
escaping for an afternoon often
meander along Calhoun Coun
ty’s winding roads soaking up
the sights, sounds and smells of
country life.
This summer, some day
trippers will take home a new
appreciation for ethanol. Mort
land, who is area manager for
Jersey County Farm Supply
a Growmark member affiliate
in the Calhoun County town of
Hardin is encouraging far
mers to proudly display their
support for the home-grown
fuel.
"Calhoun County is a small
agricultural community,” said
Mortland. “But the more the
public sees farmers are com
mitted to using ethanol, the
greater their support. With our
visibility to a major metropoli
tan area, we have the opportun
ity to give a human face to
ethanol for a public that knows
very little about it.”
Each time Jersey County
Farm Supply delivers a bulk
load of 10 percent ethanol
blended fuel to a farm custom-
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«£v,
Cast Eye On
er, the driver also drops off an
aluminum sign for the farmer
to display. The 18-inch by
24-inch sign reads, “This farm
uses 10 percent ethanol. I grow
it; I use it.” The signs are com
pliments of the Illinois Com
Growers Association.
Posting a sign is only a small
step in building broad-based
support for ethanol, acknow
ledges Mortland. But he points
out public support for cleaner
fuels is growing. And com
growers are among those to
benefit.
Illinois recently granted a
tax advantage to ethanol,
which makes a 90-octane 10
percent ethanol-blended fuel
equivalent in price to 87-oc
tane gasoline for Mortland’s
customers.
“Now when my patrons
choose ethanol, they help
themselves as com growers,
they help the environment and
they’re purchasing a premium
product for a reasonable price,”
he said.
Calhoun County com grow
er Roy Jacobs, Sr., relies on
ethanol as his fuel of choice.
“When I use ethanol, I’m help
ing com prices,” he said. “And
I get the same performance as I
would with gasoline.”
Before the'rush of summer
city visitors starts filling the
roads, Jacobs intends to post
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* Monitor load placements and
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P’S BARN E
5935 OLD PHILADELPHIA PIKE, GAP, PA 17527
PHONE: 717-442-8134 we service what we sell
Ethanol
one of the signs promoting
ethanol. “We have to advertise
our product to the public,” he
said. ‘To be supportive, they
need to know farmers grow
com. And com is made into
ethanol.”
By summertime, Jacobs will
Corn Growers Keep
Pressure On Over Ethanol
CHICAGO. 11l Cora
growers are committed to sec
uring a year-round role for
ethanol in the reformulated
gasoline (RFG) program as
final rules are drafted, accord
ing to the farmer leadership of
the National Com Growers
Association (NCGA).
Ethanol’s role in RFG was
among the top priorities dis
cussed by the NCGA executive
committee, which is made up
of 15 com growers from 10
states.
“Last summer the tremend
ous effort of com farmers
throughout the country con
vinced the Bush Administra
tion that reformulated gasoline
blended with ethanol will be
effective in reducing urban
smog. Now we have a new
president and a new admini
strator of EPA who will write
Anothar surprise; all thla
parformanca capability
For a scale system this economi
cal, you might expect J-STAR to
scrimp on features Not so. Take a
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• Standard 7 ft. x 10 ft platform,
sized to easily accommodate
tandem axles.
• Two models to choose from,
with 40,000 pound or 50,000
pound capacities per tandem or
single axle.
• Rugged J-STAR weigh beams
with y, of 1% accuracy
(99 5% accurate).
• Choice of accurate, reliable scale
indicators to match your weigh
ing needs and preferences.
• Shock-resistant strain gauge load
cells for long-lasting, depend
able performance
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of heavy structural steel lor
years of dependable service and
demanding use.
■ Portable operation, if desired,
because of the system’s 12-volt
DC electronics, 3-pomt tractor
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tachable ramps (40,000 pound
model only); and low-profile,
easy-on-and-off platform design.
■ jmib Afe Rugged J-STAR Scale
KIIMI Systems are constructed ol
heavy gauge structural steal
years ol
Corn Talk, Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 9,l993—Page
mWM f MM MlWi
also have an attractive pen set
promoting ethanol resting on
his desk. Mortland is supplying
the complimentary sets to cus
tomers as they reach the 1,000
the final regulations to imple
ment the Clean Air Act. NCGA
will have to work even harder
than we did a year ago to
ensure that the new administra
tion understands the benefits of
using ethanol and the impor
tance of this market to com far
mers.” said NCGA President
Randy Cruise, a farmer from
Pleasanton, Neb.
“We have the advantage of
solid scientific evidence to
back out position and the com
mitment of the NCGA mem
bership to doggedly pursue this
issue,” Cruise said.
NCGA membership is
expected to be “geared up” to
do whatever it takes to protect
this expanding maiket for agri
culture. With the final rule on
reformulated gasoline expected
to be issued in mid-August, it
could be another “long hot
sumemr” for ethanol.
All this plus J-STAR's years of A choice that gives you a proven
expertise in building hard- management tool that can provide
working, long-lasting equipment vital Information to help you con
makes a J-STAR Scale System the sislently make better business
logical choice for your operation. decisions The “easy weigh"
Option* and weighing versatility
• Detachable ramps. • Radio-controlled remote opera
• 3-pomt tractor hitch lift ,IDn (Model 15 only)
attachment (40,000 pound • Printer for batch or other
model only) weighing applications
• AC/DC power converter (or (Model 15 only).
stationa7 operation. ■ Computer interlace capabilities
• Indicator stand. (Model 15 only).
UIPMENT
gallon-mark in bulk ethanol
blend purchases. The sets
depict a hand peeling back the
husk on ail ear of com, with the
words “Ethanol: “The Pollu
tion Solution” laser-engraved.
He emphasizes that many
Growmark-afflliated FS com
panies .hroughout Illinois,
lowa, and Wisconsin are run
ning special promotion prog
rams for ethanol. “Our prog
ram isn’t the most extensive,
but we have the advantage of
being on the fringe of an urban
area, which makes it even more
pressing that we promote etha
nol,” said Mortland.
In the past five years,
Growmark-affiliated compa
nies have sold more than 250
million gallons of 10-percent
ethanol-blended fuel and sales
are growing about 10 percent
each year. That steady growth
suits Mortland just fine. He
intends to keep the Calhoun
County ethanol promotion
program running indefinitely.
In fact, this summer he hopes
to have FS employees avail
able to help farmers get their
ethanol signs posted where the
road cruisers will see them.
Ethanol's one good bargain
everyone should know about,
believes Mortland.
7 It. by 10 It weighing platform aasUy handles tandam axles.
Scale indicator can be mounted In an outside environment on a
nearby building or on the optional Indicator stand.
Radio
Dispatched ||JOS
Trucks rfyl
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