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Thanks to HB685 farmers
might be growing fuel now

  It was very good news for our agricultural industry when our state legislators passed and Governor Blanco signed into law HB685 that would insure that at least 2% of fuel sold in our state would be ag- based bio-diesel and ethanol. This will open new frontiers for researchers and farmers.
  But is it really a new frontier? My great-grandfather and probably yours not only grew food to feed the world, but grew crops that fueled the transportation for his family and powered the equipment that tilled his fields and brought his crop to market.   He raised oats and hay to feed his team of horses and mules, so this concept is not new- just different. Farmers back in his day not only fed the world, but they also powered it. They were the Chevrons and Exxons of their era.
  At the World’s Fair back in 1900 a man by the name of Dr. Rudolf Diesel introduced to the world his revolutionary new engine that was designed to run on peanut oil. People at that time lit their homes with lanterns that burned whale oil. It seemed that America was on the verge of the concept of renewable fuel. Then guess what, we struck oil!
  Growing fuel in modern times seems new and revolutionary to us, but other countries have been doing it for some time. Brazil is almost 100% ag-powered. They have a very limited petroleum industry and rely almost entirely on bio-diesel and ethanol. Many years ago, they decided to invest in themselves and their farm industry and not be dependent on un-stable oil rich countries.
  I don’t think the U.S. will be the next Brazil, but ag-based fuels could help wean us from being so heavily dependent on importing foreign oil while making us less dependent on exporting our crops. This seems simple and logical and could prove to be a win- win solution for all, because this bill was not drawn up to pit one industry against another, but to advance the movement toward self-sufficiency.
  From an environmental stand point it makes good sense as well. If you trace back the roots of environmentalists, I’m sure many of them were farmers. Farmers have always been environmentalists because their living depends on the land. They were protecting and preserving it long before any political correctness or so called environmentalist groups said it was the right thing to do.
  Anyone who drives through the countryside of Louisiana will notice fields of amber waves of grain, green pastures with grazing cattle, rows upon rows of corn and sugarcane and tucked between fields, every now and then, an oil well. The thought that the same acre of land can be drilled for oil beneath the surface and planted with crops to produce renewable resources for fuel is fascinating.
  These two industries have co-existed well for many decades. So the proposal of blending this renewable fuel into only 2% of the state’s supply in order to reduce some of our dependency on foreign oil while helping the agricultural industry seems like a no-brainer.
  Food is the single most important thing to our national security. Not everyone is old enough to remember the food shortages during World War II but food and sugar were rationed. Imagine the havoc a similar shortage would wreak on today’s society. We expect our butchers to have our steaks in the cooler and the store shelves stocked with all the fixings to go along with it. After all, this is America.
  But somehow, over time, and with help from powerful lobbyist, our elected officials seem to think that weapons and oil are the most important things. Maybe now because of ag-produced fuel, farmers might get their overdue respect and be rewarded accordingly for the crops they raise. Remember the bumper sticker, "Don’t criticize farmers with your mouth full." How cool would it be if in the near future you see one that says, "Don’t criticize farmers with your tank full."
  (Buck Leonards is Publisher/Editor of Louisiana Farm and Ranch Magazine.)

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