Levanna Road news

[Bob Bancroft]

I gave up on getting a lower fuel price and had gas and diesel tanks filled. 556 gal gas $3790. 1166 gal diesel fuel $6878 last week.
Now my propane supplier calls and asks if they can fill my 1000 gal dryer tank, as they have "gallons" to move?! Sure- go ahead and fill it. But the bad news is everything is a month late. I won't be using propane until November!

 

[rrlund]

Gives you a warm fuzzy feeling doesn't it.

 

[MSD]

Propane was priced the same as we paid last year here in SE SD.

 

[paul]

I use about 3 gallons an acre of fuel to grow a crop.

Double from let’s say 3 bucks to 6 bucks a gallon, that costs me $9 more per acre.

Corn and soybeans are roughly a dollar a bushel more than they were a year ago. If I get 150 bu corn and 50 bu beans, I could hope for $50-$150 an acre better income.

Now, fertilizer costs more, seed costs more, machinery and repairs cost more. Herbicides will actually cost less next year it appears. Anyhow, lots of things do cost more.

The price of diesel is a bummer, but it’s a fairly small direct cost in my operation.

Others have different economics and costs, but it might help to look at the whole picture, not just one small portion.

We could have been better businessmen and pre priced some fuel, helping to average a lower cost. I did some, looking back should have done more. Oh well.

I’m better off this year with $6 fuel than I was last year at $3. Dang I wish it was still $3, but looking at the whole picture…..

Paul

 

[rrlund]

I use about 3 gallons an acre of fuel to grow a crop.

Double from let’s say 3 bucks to 6 bucks a gallon, that costs me $9 more per acre.

Corn and soybeans are roughly a dollar a bushel more than they were a year ago. If I get 150 bu corn and 50 bu beans, I could hope for $50-$150 an acre better income.

Now, fertilizer costs more, seed costs more, machinery and repairs cost more. Herbicides will actually cost less next year it appears. Anyhow, lots of things do cost more.

The price of diesel is a bummer, but it’s a fairly small direct cost in my operation.

Others have different economics and costs, but it might help to look at the whole picture, not just one small portion.

We could have been better businessmen and pre priced some fuel, helping to average a lower cost. I did some, looking back should have done more. Oh well.

I’m better off this year with $6 fuel than I was last year at $3. Dang I wish it was still $3, but looking at the whole picture…..

Paul

Do you heat your house with fuel oil? I do, Tell me how much better off I am this year.

 

[Tony in SD]

Do you heat your house with fuel oil? I do, Tell me how much better off I am this year.

Might be a good time to look at an alternative heat source. I use geothermal and LP on my farm Both are fairly stable. At least this year.

 

[rrlund]

Might be a good time to look at an alternative heat source. I use geothermal and LP on my farm Both are fairly stable. At least this year.

I've been through all of this before in the 70s and 80s. I don't have it in me anymore. I'll just bite the bullet, ride it out and try to make sure the source of the problem is taken care of.

 

[Texasmark]

I fill up Propane in September even though I don't use it till later in the year. In talking to a distributor when filling my tanks, he said that the winter price takes over in October. I don't know the ins and outs of Propane procurement/production so I can't figure how the cost is almost half what Ethanol is running at the pump. No doubt part of the cost for home delivery are the new trucks the delivery folks are using. Those new Peterbuilts are beautiful.

 

[showcrop]

Might be a good time to look at an alternative heat source. I use geothermal and LP on my farm Both are fairly stable. At least this year.

How long have you had the geothermal? That is something that I have thought about now and then for a long time, but at my age the investment could never pay off. From what I have been seeing the new inverter technology makes anything with a compressor much more cost effective.

 

[showcrop]

I fill up Propane in September even though I don't use it till later in the year. In talking to a distributor when filling my tanks, he said that the winter price takes over in October. I don't know the ins and outs of Propane procurement/production so I can't figure how the cost is almost half what Ethanol is running at the pump. No doubt part of the cost for home delivery are the new trucks the delivery folks are using. Those new Peterbuilts are beautiful.

Here in NH there is a website that I have looked at now and then that gives the prices over the previous year for energy sources. I recall that propane was nearly always most expensive late winter and cheapest in the fall.

 

[stoughtonfarmboy]

Over 50 years since I worked at a propane dealer in Wisconsin. We had a "summer fill" program. Tried to get customers to top off their tanks before September 1 or thereabouts. Price was lower than in mid-winter. Also, corn dryers took a lot of propane in the Fall, just before heating season. Great customers because they had larger tanks and you could deliver a lot of gas at one stop compared to several home heating customers spread over many miles.

Ken

 

[WI Dan]

I use about 3 gallons an acre of fuel to grow a crop.

Double from let’s say 3 bucks to 6 bucks a gallon, that costs me $9 more per acre.

Corn and soybeans are roughly a dollar a bushel more than they were a year ago. If I get 150 bu corn and 50 bu beans, I could hope for $50-$150 an acre better income.

Now, fertilizer costs more, seed costs more, machinery and repairs cost more. Herbicides will actually cost less next year it appears. Anyhow, lots of things do cost more.

The price of diesel is a bummer, but it’s a fairly small direct cost in my operation.

Others have different economics and costs, but it might help to look at the whole picture, not just one small portion.

We could have been better businessmen and pre priced some fuel, helping to average a lower cost. I did some, looking back should have done more. Oh well.

I’m better off this year with $6 fuel than I was last year at $3. Dang I wish it was still $3, but looking at the whole picture…..

Paul

That's an interesting perspective. Thanks for sharing.