As for ADM Cargill...

All that's happened is effectively companies are hitting a glass ceiling -- big enough to control pricing, to big to grow anymore without finally getting a hand-slap. So they can get comfortable knowing no one, even their "competitors" can now challenge them.

Figure if I could do just 600 gallons / acre.

Multiply by 60% to gas the equivelant in straight gasoline..360 gallons.

That's about a 1/4 of what I use in fuel a year right now...at $3/gallon (paid $3.13 tonite)...that's over $1000.

Have plenty of cordwood to heat a still...couple used 275 gallon fuel oil tanks could hold a year's production...

Hmmm, might have an excuse for buying a cultivate for the Ferguson ;)

The 22 farmer owned and one ADM owned ethanol plants are getting 2.9 gallons of ethanol per bu of corn.

Real, real close to your numbers????

You will find raising, harvesting, & storing corn to be _much_ easier, I think.

Not discouraging you, just think through all the options. :)

--->Paul

Which is growing a root crop.

In typical upland New England soils.

You know, the place of the country famous for it's...Stone Walls.

That ain't gonna happen on a big scale.

I was thinking they'd be easier to process then corn...I wonder now though if you'd be able to just pick an ear and chop it and make the mash with the cob, kernel, and husk

Just be cool to do...unfortunately, if you got it to work, you couldn't even brag about brewing your own fuel less the revenuers get wind of it!

Another fuel source these days - rendering plants. Getting hard to use the stuff they get for feed or anything any more - they can render the grease into fuel tho, again 40 miles or so from me is one of the few rendering plants left, they are making bio-diesel.

As a farmer, would seem more efficient/ lower cost to keep the cobs & husks seperate - less material to collect; or use the cobs for bedding & the husks for cattle feed instead of flowing all the extra material through the process.

Efficiency at low cost is the way to go farming. 'Easy' never seems to make a farmer any money. :)

--->Paul

I suppose if you had a one or two row picker you'd have the cat's meow for that application. But I'm solidly in silage country -- you don't see pickers, and you don't see cribs around here.