Energy questions answered at farm show
Mar 1, 2006 9:04 AM
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Fired up about high energy costs and their impact on your farming operation? You can make your views known at the upcoming Mid-South Farm and Gin Show, which will feature a special seminar on energy issues.
The show will be held Friday and Saturday, March 3-4, at the downtown Memphis Cook Convention Center, sponsored by the Southern Cotton Ginners Association and Delta Farm Press. The energy seminar will be Saturday at 1 p.m.
“The high cost of doing business was the top story in agriculture in 2005,” says Tim Price, executive vice president of SCGA and manager for the show.
“Rising interest rates and skyrocketing fuel and fertilizer prices put added pressure on farmer income. From diesel to fuel tractors and combines to propane and electricity used in nearly every facet of a farm operation, energy costs have increasingly become a permanent, fixed component of farm budgets.”
Producers interested in learning the outlook and implications for energy costs in 2006 and beyond are urged to make plans to attend the energy seminar, which will include a question-and-answer session and an opportunity for farmers to interact with representatives from various energy sectors.
In order for producers to have input into the program, Price says they may fax or e-mail the following information in advance of the show, and it will be provided to the program speakers.
1. List the top three energy issues facing you and your farm operation.
2. How are the changes in energy costs affecting your farm operation?
3. What would you most like to see happen at the state and federal levels regarding energy issues?
4. List the specific questions regarding energy issues you would like the experts at the 2006 Energy Seminar to answer.
Your information may be faxed to the Southern Cotton Ginners Association at (901) 947-3103, or you may enter it at the SCGA Web site, www.southerncottonginners.org. “The energy situation is of great concern to producers,” Price says.
Also, five Mid-South students who are winners of the Delta King Seed Company SoyDiesel Scholarship Awards for 2006 will be recognized at the Energy Seminar.
Recipients of the $2,500 scholarships are James Fussell V, Jonesboro, Ark.; Logan Whittington, Oak Grove, La.; K’Ann Dorris, Pontotoc, Miss.; Mary Kathryn Campbell, Cooter, Mo.; and Holly Hopper, Hornbeak, Tenn.
The competition aims at funding higher education and promoting the development and use of soy diesel in the United States.
