Word: ethanol
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...million planted acres this year – that it's used in the production of thousands of products, from plastics and paint to crayons and soap. And because as much as half of the nation's corn crop could soon be devoted to the production of ethanol fuel, corn prices are expected to rise dramatically, potentially pushing up the cost of numerous products, including packaged snacks and other consumer goods. With corn taking an increasing share of the planting space, prices may also rise for competing grains. That may affect not just the cost of fruits and vegetables, but even paper...
Still, in Yuma County, where gasoline costs around $3.35 per gal. in recent weeks--ethanol E85 fuel was $2.43 per gal.--seldom is heard a discouraging word. Even Brad Rock, who is being hit hard by rising feed prices for the 4,000 head of cattle on his Box Elder Ranch in nearby Wray, admits that the ethanol projects "are good for the community from a jobs perspective...
...Yuma Ethanol will create 40 jobs paying an average of $40,000 a year, well above the county's per capita income of $26,707. The Panda operation, valued at more than $120 million, plans to hire 500 construction workers, as well as a permanent staff of 50. Officials estimate both projects will generate $6 million in annual revenue that will help fund several ambitious water-conservation, construction and drainage projects...
Beyond that, restaurant owners say they're serving more customers. Tire vendors and diesel-fuel stations are busier, as 100 trucks a day will move through the Yuma Ethanol plant. Land prices are rising. And dealers expect to sell more pickups. Dennis Wagner, the sales manager of MV Equipment, where John Deere tractors cost $100,000 to $250,000, points out that "a farmer will be able to dictate when he can update his equipment, rather than have the economy dictate...
...commissioner who grows 1,200 acres of corn on his 3,500-acre spread, says $4 corn brings its own set of problems--higher planting costs, for one, as he busts more sod. But Bushner allows that he can live with that: "Every time we put a gallon of ethanol in our car, that's a gallon of gasoline we're not putting in it that we got from the Middle East." Seems that the view on alternative fuels from down on the farm goes much farther than just over the next ridge...