Farmers Fuel Costs

[KICK]

one of my associates is an executive in the cruise ship field, and he was at a seminar recently and he stated that people still want a 200 dollar ticket for a short cruise and the cruiselines have trouble raising the price, but their fuel costs are starting to really get to them..

said average cruise ship burns 2 tons of fuel per hour, used to be cheap, now its a thousand bux a ton..

everything is relative..... I dont like buying 20 gallons at 4 bucks a gallon, they dont like buying 200 tons at 1000 bucks a ton.

 

[joerocker]

Our entire world has been built on CHEAP oil... IF those days are over...so is life as we've grown accustomed to. The time of plenty may be at an end.

I think we've got at least 20 more years of relative prosperity as we start conserving, first at a modest rate, then more and more until the shortages of oil become overwhelming.

All I see from the government/industry is expensive "cures" that do nothing of any real consequence. You see...they need something to continually tax, and businesses wants a monthly payment from you. They can't keep selling you solar or wind power. But then again, electric power isn't a worry to us in the US, we have a LOT of coal for that. It's the chemicals and the fuels that will be a problem. Economy cars will be THE thing in 5 years. You'll be lucky to trade an Escalade for a moped. I see electric vehicles as really big in 5 years too. We have to move away from oil as a fuel...we'll need it for it's other uses. Look around your house, MOST of everything you have IS literally made of oil.

I feel for the grandkids...

 

[MikePA]

I have confidence in American ingenuity and refuse to hop on the gloom and doom bandwagon which I thinks plays right into the hands of people and groups whose goal is to bring about the very economic and societal decline they predict.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

I have confidence in American ingenuity and refuse to hop on the gloom and doom bandwagon which I thinks plays right into the hands of people and groups whose goal is to bring about the very economic and societal decline they predict.

AMEN.

We have 2 choices. 1, fold like a lawnchair for the forces who want to see us turned into a 3rd world country. OR, 2, Adapt, Improvise, and Overcome.

It ain't gonna be easy. Life will change and continue to change for those of us in the "western civilizations". Things might not always be as luscious as they have been in the past. But those outside forces would like nothing better that to see some of us start waving a white flag.

This is starting to get political, so I better jump down off my soapbox.

 

[Z-Michigan]

Fuel is the least of our worries ,It is our smallest input and not increasing in price as fast as fertilizer / chemicals or seed .

I was chatting with the farmer who did our hay last year - he said much the same thing. Fuel prices were a nuisance. Prices of fertilizer and roundup were a problem. Said glyphosate, any brand, had more than doubled in price from a year ago.

Of course, my investments (via a mutual fund) in Potash CP, Mosaic, and some other fertilizer companies are doing great...

 

[frank_miller]

I agree. Fuel is a complete, hmmm joke since I have ferts that went from $398 per 2.5 gallons to over $800

 

[CinderSchnauzer]

I have a friend that runs a large grain / cattle setup. If I recall correctly he told me his 8XXX series JD uses 10 gal per hour when working. Apparently 10 - 14 hour days, in the season, are not unusual. All the equipment is radio equiped & DW brings finger food and sandwiches so they never have to stop except for pee breaks.

As for Fertilizer he is looking to add the GPS guidance sytstem to cut down waste from overlap.

 

[jwcinpk]

I have confidence in American ingenuity and refuse to hop on the gloom and doom bandwagon which I thinks plays right into the hands of people and groups whose goal is to bring about the very economic and societal decline they predict.

I agree with a lot of that, but what are we gonna do? Last time I checked we were outnumbered about 200 to 1. Folks just keep going to wally world and buying the chinese made junk. We keep outsourcing jobs. I haven't seen 1 single political candidate who was interested in anything except getting our vote, taking our money, and shipping away our jobs. When will it end? I still here that giant sucking sound Ross Perot was talking about. Republican or Democrat we don't stand a great chance. Mcain wants to start supplying our military with foreign made planes and Hillary sits back and grins because she owns tons of Wal Mart stock. Obama will do as good at president as he would at ultimate fighting. It aint gonna be rosy folks! Worst part is we brought it on ourselves.

 

[Egon]

Hey Now:

My original post was only to show fuel costs for a typical farm where I grew up!

Politics was not intended and if it continues the tread will be closed!

 

[joerocker]

Politics was not intended and if it continues the tread will be closed!

Politics is EXACTLY why we're where we're at now!

We SHOULD talk about it...ESPECIALLY with an election coming up.