In North Dakota, Farmers Face Diesel Shortages, Prices Up to $3.42/Gallon - AP

[hatrack]

BISMARCK – North Dakota farmers and truck drivers are feeling the pinch of low diesel supplies and high prices. The shortages have sent prices soaring. Diesel hit a record-high in Grand Forks over the weekend at about $3.42 per gallon. “It’s killing me right now,” said Mike Kyle, who runs a small trucking business out of Langdon. “It’s impossible (to make ends meet). I’m going broke.”

State Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson said he is getting telephone calls from farmers who are having problems finding diesel for harvest. He said most of the calls are from eastern North Dakota, where there are more corn, sunflower and soybeans crops, but “I think (the shortage) is pretty widespread.”

“A lot of that normal supply network has been dependent on some of these ... as many as eight different refineries that were down at the same time,” Johnson said.

Mike Rud, director of the North Dakota Petroleum Marketers Association, said the diesel fuel shortage is so critical that suppliers have started rationing fuel. The problem is more acute in the eastern part of the state, he said. A national price spike in diesel fuel has been driven mostly by supply and demand, said Gene LaDoucer, a AAA spokesman for North Dakota. Demand for diesel has increased dramatically at a time when refineries are not producing as much diesel as they work overtime to rebuild the country’s gasoline reserves, he said.

EDIT

http://www.in-forum.com/News/articles/179848 (May require registration)

[jpak]

1. If they established co-ops to produce biodiesel from locally grown crops...

oh never mind...

(on edit: many farmers already have established "coops".....for chickens. Stupid hyphen thingy....)

:blush:

[kestrel91316]

2. Besides, co-ops are a commie pinko plot.

[hatrack]

3. Yes, co-ops hate both Freedumb AND 'Murka!

:evilgrin:

[hunter]

4. The corpse in the room is starting to rot.

How long do you think we'll be able to ignore it?

At first they'll blame these shortages on anything but the fact that there's no reason to increase refining capacity if there's no assurance the refinery improvements will ever pay for themselves.

What's a shiny new oil refinery without oil?

If biodiesel works then it's not rocket science to plant oil crops and increase production. The technology is rather mild compared to petroleum refining -- you can even extract the oil and use it directly in slightly modified diesel engines.

If now is not the time for biodiesel in places like North Dakota, there never will be a time for biodiesel.

Hmmmm. How many U.S. dollars does it cost to fill your tank with Canola oil? Yikes, the price of Canola oil in U.S. grocery stores is rapidly increasing.

[skids]

5. I shouldn't snark, but it's just too ironic not to...

...that a corn farmer farming for ethanol would run out of "gas."

I guess the ethanol folks should have payed more attention to biodiesel.