The joys of farm subsidies

[Mikey]

True - my point was that biodiesel SPECIFICALLY isn't an answer. What I was trying to illustrate was from teh POV of many people, some of whom have been my customers - small farmers, landscapers, scrap guys, wreckers, etc. These guys often have a fleet of 1 - 5 vehicles, and maybe 33% or more of the gross business income goes into the cost of ownership of the fleet. Now, payroll can't be neglected, nor can other overhead... if the cost of operations of that fleet increase because he's gone to biodiesel, the only place it can come from is the small bit of the business gross that he uses to provide for his family.

[Duskofdead]

Isn't the price of maintaining a fleet of vehicles going to go up ANYWAY because of fuel? The price of cheap foods such as wheat or grain has increased 300% in the last few months, because of the increased cost of transportation.

[Tsukiyumi]

That, and commodities traders driving the price up through "speculation".

I don't know a lot about the stock market, but if that even resembles what it sounds like, people are purposely driving up fuel and food prices to make profits. I don't see why they couldn't be made to stop.

[Duskofdead]

That, and commodities traders driving the price up through "speculation".

I don't know a lot about the stock market, but if that even resembles what it sounds like, people are purposely driving up fuel and food prices to make profits. I don't see why they couldn't be made to stop.

That and people panicking and overreacting. One of the downfalls of our era of mass instant communication is that it can create domino effects. News about a rice crop disappointment in Malaysia (I think?), for instance, even though Malaysia didn't significantly supply anyone else with rice, had people the next day in China, Japan, Korea and all throughout Asia clearing out store shelves of rice, therefore creating a "shortage", not from supply but from people hoarding.

[Tsukiyumi]

That, and commodities traders driving the price up through "speculation".

I don't know a lot about the stock market, but if that even resembles what it sounds like, people are purposely driving up fuel and food prices to make profits. I don't see why they couldn't be made to stop.

That and people panicking and overreacting. One of the downfalls of our era of mass instant communication is that it can create domino effects. News about a rice crop disappointment in Malaysia (I think?), for instance, even though Malaysia didn't significantly supply anyone else with rice, had people the next day in China, Japan, Korea and all throughout Asia clearing out store shelves of rice, therefore creating a "shortage", not from supply but from people hoarding.

Well, right. The people trading go out of their way to spread those rumors or drop-in-the-bucket crop losses to create this sort of panic, and drive up prices, therefore driving up the profit. Greed preying on fear, pure and simple.

[Mikey]

Isn't the price of maintaining a fleet of vehicles going to go up ANYWAY because of fuel? The price of cheap foods such as wheat or grain has increased 300% in the last few months, because of the increased cost of transportation.

I'm talking about over and above that. Let's say your diesel fuel cost $4.50/gal - that applies for standard cracked low-sulfur diesel OR biodiesel. Maintenance in general has gone way up over the last two years because of the new recirculating particulate filters, etc.; now, if you run on biodiesel, there is even MORE maintenace that needs to be done on your vehicles.

And Tsu makes a good point; cereals and other staple crops - esp. ones like soy which are used for biofuel, stock feed, and other alternatives to just being food - are at least AS subject to market whims as oil.