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High Fuel Prices: Frugal Farming

Posted on: Friday, 28 October 2005, 12:00 CDT

By Elisa L. Rineheart, Grand Forks Herald, N.D.

Oct. 28--Area farmers finishing their fall fieldwork are trying to wring every bit of work they can out of each gallon of fuel.

Some farmers say there's not much you can do about the high cost of fuel, other than buying fuel on contract at the best price you can, but there are some tricks of the trade - and some new machines - that can help farmers offset high fuel prices, experts say.

"Not running your engine at full rpm is the best way to save fuel," said Les Swanson, sales manager for Roseau (Minn.) Farm Service.

One new tool out there to help farmers do that is tractors with infinitely variable transmissions. That's a transmission with an infinite number of gears, which saves fuel because it helps keep the engine at just the right running speed, said Rodney Bryn, general manager of Crookston Implement.

The technology allows farmers to shift gears in smaller increments, keeping engine revolutions at the most economical level while increasing vehicle speed.

Newer John Deere tractors, for instance, have an automatic shifting feature that selects the proper gear electronically when shifting up or down, eliminating jolts.

"If you chose a 6 mph ground speed, depending on the load behind you, you can run the engine anywhere between 1,500 to 2,200 rpm, so if it's a light load condition you can run it at idle and save fuel," Bryn said.

A new tractor with infinitely variable transmission costs about $145,000.

Crookston farmer Daryl Wagner said he's been using Global Positioning Systems in the field for longer than he can remember.

But it wasn't until four years ago that he purchased a GPS-guided, auto-steer tractor. He tried an off-brand first and, though it was not as efficient as a his new John Deere tractor, it saved him time and fuel.

Auto-steer tractors allow farmers to control overlapping, a typical way of wasting fuel and fertilizer. The ratio of overlapping without auto-steer often ranges from 10 to 15 percent.

Wagner said that with 4,000 acres of soybeans, sunflowers, wheat and other crops to plant and harvest, auto steering is a significant aid in reducing labor and energy costs.

He said he programs his GPS receiver to reduce the amount of overlapping to a desired minimum and eliminate invasive plants at the same time.

"That's a fuel savings right there," Wagner said.

Some experts say that tractors with tracks are more fuel efficient than tire tractors, because they provide a better grip.

But Wagner said the savings vary according to the type of work the machinery performs.

"There isn't that much savings between the two of them," he said. "Tracks pull a little bit better, but under wet conditions, tires work better."

At the end of the day, though, some farmers conclude there isn't much they can do to offset the high price of fuel. They said they plan to bite the bullet and pay the price.

Ralph Larson, of Ralph Larson Farms, owns a fleet of 17 traditional farming implements, including his pickup trucks. He said he doesn't plan to upgrade his equipment anytime soon to save money on fuel.

"We're just working the fields less," he said. "We think twice about it before going over them again to get rid of weed."

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Copyright (c) 2005, Grand Forks Herald, N.D.

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Source: Grand Forks Herald (Grand Forks, N.D.)

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