We're only a nickel away from $4.00 a gallon for the lowest grade of regular today. How about you guys?

Hit $3.74 here in southern Iowa today for the low grade. $4.29 for diesel

$3.65

We are at $3.69 in NE Ohio. Here is a link to a site where you type in your zip code and it shows the area prices. Updated nightly. http://autos.msn.com/everyday/gasstations.aspx?zip=&src=Netx

$3.54 last week $3.72 this week

$3.67 for the cheaper ethanol blend, add another .10 for the non-ethanol blend.

Lightweights!!!!!!!!!!

I live in a tourist based area of Sandy Eggo.

Paid $4.099 for regular, yep regular. Premium is $4.299 which is what I have to put in my car. So I drive the wife's car most of the time. Her Prius averages 50-52 MPG so that eases the pain.

My contractor clients are getting killed. Diesel is as high as $4.949. Why in the heck is diesel higher, I thought it took less refining?

And labor day is coming so in Sandy Eggo land that means "bend over" cause we're gonna jack up prices again.

And oil companies report record profits. I knew I should have been an oil tycoon.

$3.88 in Belleville IL.

3.79 I cross the river and buy it at 3.69 At the rate gas is going up and meat/mil prices are going up I think I'll sell my mower, buy some goat, let them keep the yard down, switch to goats milk, and search for recipes for goat. sigh

Deisel is 4.40 here,might be better off staying home and eating fish!Been to the grocery store and am very,very glad I have a garden almost as big as my pond :)Wish I could grow fuel,Id be in hog heaven

Jeff,

I love that -- Sandy Eggo.

I assume a Prius is a hybrid?

You know I haven't figured that out about diesel being higher either. For as long as I can remember until about a year ago it was always lower.

I've seriously considered sheep for my back yard where there are three ponds and it's a pain to mow anyway. I've got to finish fencing it in though. And how much does it cost to feed the sheep in the winter when there is no grass? You know if a farmer was a real entrepenuer he's rent out sheep for the summer to people with big fenced in acreage.

I don't think I'd want a goat. I hear they eat everything in sight.

My neighbor had a couple of goats. they kept the dam grass under control. The only problem is that they make noise all night long and the ones my neighbor had were pretty aggressive.

I have five goats that keep the grass behind my house ate down. They hardly ever make noise exept around feeding time. A bag of feed is around 12.50 for medicated and last about 2 weeks a square bale of hay will last about 3 weeks if you just give them a little each day.

Geez guys,the answer is sooooo obvius.If you have a bigger pond you have less grass to mow.Less grass=less gas.That saves more money.So we all need bigger ponds.Gonna run this by the boss...
....right after I get back from Rocky's this weekend

Cecil, at this latitude we figure 100 square bales of hay to overwinter a horse or a cow. A sheep would be a small fraction of that, I suppose. I'd find out for you, but there's a long standing Gallus family tradition to have nothing to do with sheep. We won't even wear those tall rubber boots.

Hay's gotten high, too. It fluctuates with the weather - too dry and it won't grow, too wet and it won't cure. Last Winter I knew folks who paid as high as $13 per square bale, whereas for years it has been $2 a bale.

That is exactly why I was going with goats. I have a lot of overgrowth/thorn bushes I want cleared and those hairy garbage disposals can do it in one season. Besides who ever heard of sheeps milk pizza?

Gas in mid-west GA is $3.75/gal.

Affirmative.

So are we talking about sheep or goats? I forget what farm animal we're arguing about.

It those guys in Texas making all the money on oil.

I had heard we invaded Iraq for the oil. What happened?

I filled up last night @ $4.19 gallon in Wheatfield, IN. My car is supposed to have premium, but at that price I chose the mid-grade. Premium was $4.28 and regular was $4.05.

Feed the goat/sheep over the winter?
Haven't you heard the term feeder pig/goat/sheep.
Feed them out over the summer and feast on/sell them in the fall.
Just buy a new one in the spring.
If you're not going to eat/sell it, it's a pet.

I think that diesel is expensive because of environmental concerns. It has been changing to low sulfur and now ultra low sulphur which takes more refining.
Diesel emissions are becoming more restrictive.
Engines are becoming more expensive/complicated now too.

Matt Wehland

Eat a sheep? Why do you think the British won the Falklands War? All the Argies had to eat was sheep.

[quote=Theo I'd find out for you, but there's a long standing Gallus family tradition to have nothing to do with sheep. We won't even wear those tall rubber boots.

Theo, I am not sure everyone has heard that joke.
Sometimes the ones that fly under the radar are the best.

That is unless if you have a leech field of 100 by 400 feet in the front yard!

Nothing there to eat George!

Two pastures, two ponds, underbrush browse clean, pond banks manicured.
Two leased pastures, three stock tanks, all manicured.
Plenty to eat...
Goats are fantastic as long as I don't have to take care of them...

Holy Mackrel George. A quadruple quote - I think you may have set a record or something.

I had an interesting talk with the owner of a convenience/gas store this morning.

He told me that he paid $3.23 per gallon yesterday. Then, all of the associated taxes and fees come to another 42 cents per gallon. That puts his cost at $3.65. He is selling for $3.69. However, if a customer uses a Discover or AMEX credit card, he has to pay 5%. For Visa or MC, he has to pay 3%. OK, he loses money on gas and tries to make it up on the inside of the store.

I have no real idea of what makes up that 42 cents but I don't want to sell gas to a retail customer.

Regular grade is running $3.83-$3.90/gallon. Diesel is $4.85-$4.90/gallon.
Its like the lottery.....nobody wins so the price goes up every week.

I've never cared for the taste of lamb or sheep.

Cecil, you’ve never been hungry enough..

Don't flinch over an old geezer war story, but in WWII after the party was over, the only fresh meat available in South Pacific was New Zealand mutton - on rare occasions
You could smell it for a mile from the mess hall - never ate lamb since...

What does this have to do with the price of gasoline?
Adjusted for inflation, the current price of gasoline has just surpassed the price in the '80's....

Another geezer war story.....
WWII gasolene was rationed at 3 gallons a week - and we think we have it rough.
I would have traded my place of residence for the 3 gallons any day of the week...

They dont want to ration it now,they just want your paycheck instead

I was out bushogging today for several hours. Tomorrow I need to fill my little diesel tractor and the extra tank -- about 20 gallons total. My fuel-stingy tractor uses about a gallon per hour. Last time I filled up, it cost me about $40. It will cost me about $80 tomorrow.

That flock of goats and sheep is looking better and better.

Ken, got any coyotes? I expect they will also vote for sheep and goats.

What we need is the right leadership in this country to get us to all work together like they did for the war effort in WWII. Wind power, solar power, drill oil in the Gulf of Mexico which the Cubans and Chinese are already, and for God's sake use the God given ingenuity this country has to come up with cars that get better milage and run on alternative energy. Did anyone know here that Europe already has diesel trucks that get about 40 mpg (converted from kpgs)?

If I could afford it I'd produce my own power from wind and solar and then invest in an electric car when they are available that I could charge every night by just pluging it in. (I work at home so I don't drive anywhere very far.)

Instead of dumping money all over the world the government could be subsidzing the infrastructure here to do this.

Cecil

Great ideas and I 100% share your sentiments. In fact, I recently opened a new company [lawn maintenance] here in Lincoln NE called Eco Mow...we are 100% carbon neutral and use only biodiesel and electric equipment. We even charge the electric equipment using wind and solar REC's - leaving zero carbon footprint.

Biodiesel is fascinating stuff - we use B100 - that's all restuarant animal or vegetable waste grease - mix with methyl alcohol, and bingo - 100% renewable, domestic, and nearly pollutant free. It's also around 700 times more efficient than gasoline - so we convert gasoline mowers to biodiesel and sell them as well.

Might not be aware of this - the statistic blew me off my chair, but unregulated 2 and 4 cycle engines [mowers, trimmers, edgers, blowers] those typically associated with lawn maintenance are responsible for up to 12% of the US air pollution. It was high time someone did something - so I did. My kids are going to have to breathe the air we pollute today - so it just seemed the only thing I COULD do. Might want to research biodiesel - I honestly believe we can make a major impact using materials for fuel that are headed to the landfill....kinda Back to the Future-ish.....if you ever want to chat about it I'm an email away!

TJ

t57,

Yeah we'll have to chat. I have lots of ideas but no funds. LOL

I'd like to produce electricity from the 45 gpms I dump via gravity into the trout pond. Seems I could rig up a water powered paddle wheel and maybe store enough electricity to power my aerators at night.

Cecil

Anytime - I'm always open to share my ideas albeit I'm not much of a technical guy. As an business owner I certainly am not a bleeding heart left guy - but the condition of this planet is certainly something any human should care about - no matter which side of the political spectrum one finds himself. I'm just trying to change things one mind at a time - and with luck, it will snowball and clean burning alternative fuels [Hydrogen, Nuclear [sorta], Electric [sorta] biodiesel] will become commonplace and I can go back to driving my V-8 engines without hearing it from my wife daily.

If you look around RE solar or gravity sourced power on the web I would bet you could find a forum where you could postulate this plan and get with guys just as informed and helpful as on Pondboss. I, for one, would be VERY interested in learning what you get rolling as I have 90 gpm rolling down to my ponds and would very much like to harness that energy.

Regular is 3.67- 3.70 here. Off road diesel is 4.09. I've got our goats cleaning up around the pond and I'm running my Kubota off of used vegetable oil, that I collect from work. I've got a biodiesel processor in the works and looking for a used older diesel Pickup.
I'm looking seriously at solar. I have a friend who designs systems for yachts, so I'm going to try to see how much marine technology I can adapt.

Sullpond

That's really good to hear. What would you estimate your cost/gallon is for biodiesel after production? Are you seeing a significant increase in efficiency vs. gasoline? How about "dirty" diesel? I have researched solar cars a little bit but would be very welcome to any information your search yields.

Please keep me in the loop!!!

TJ

Deisel fuel hit 4.50 a gollon this morning

Im so mad I cant type or spell this morning

HI Tom

I know...it's outrageous and I don't know where it's going to end. Everything within arms reach of you, wherever you are right now, is due to diesel fuel. We can manage without unleaded - biking, mass transit, work from satellite home office, have groceries delivered....it would be a pain, but we could survive.

But everything - electricity, food, your PC, paper, - EVERYTHING depends on diesel to get to the consumer. It's a sobering realization - we are entirely dependent on diesel fuel. Without it, everything would crumble.

Do you live anywhere near a fast food joint? Ever think about becoming 100% self sufficient by producing your own biodiesel?

Hey TJ,
I'm not finished my biodiesel processor yet so I can't give a cost analysis. I'm currently using waste veggie oil in my tractor and have mixed it with my #2 fuel oil to help heat the house. I filter everything numerous times, so I haven't had any trouble yet. Veggie oil has slightly less energy when burned than diesel, so I have to run my tractor at higher rpms to achieve the same result, but it's not enough to bother me. The tractor smells like French fries so I have to stop more often to eat.

I'll keep you posted.
Tim

Tim

Nice website, btw. I like what you're doing - am a very novice when it comes to cheese but I know I like it - too much. Very cool setup you have going down there.

Let me know on the biodiesel. One of my business partners from a company I recently acquired can help you with the biodiesel production - for free of course!

Let me know if you are serious about getting things set up - you could be burning B100 and there's ZERO loss of power and it's 78% cleaner burning that diesel or gasoline which sounds like a motivating factor for you too.

Let me know and I would be happy to hook you up.

TJ

Gas hit $4.09 here yesterday. Diesel $4.59 I think its time to crunch the numbers for a motorcycle again. At this rate buying extra life insurance to ride a death pony is cheaper than gas.

Gas just jumped 20¢ here over night. I'm sure it has nothing to do with Memorial Day Holiday.

TJ,
Thanks, the site it a little dated, the boy is now 19 and moved away.
As soon as I finish my processor I'll be burning straight homebrew, biodiesel. That will be much nicer.


One other thing I've noticed is prices must not be bad enough for people to slow down. Driving to work today and everybody at the light is trying for a holeshot.
Some folks don't learn.

"Regular" unleaded just crossed 4 bucks here today (4.03). The 10% ethanol blends are still about 10-15 cents per gallon cheaper.

Diesel went to 4.70 today Im criing in my beer,however Im off for the weekend and dont plan on going anywhere unless forced too.Im blessed with a pond,family visiting and a full beer fridge

My little tractor was sucking fumes when I finished bushhogging last Sunday. Off-road diesel was at $3.899 last Sunday, but I unfortunately waited till today to fill my tanks. Yesterday, when I went to work, off-road was at $4.099. I took the truck into town today. It was $4.499. $60 got me a 3/4 fillup.

Regular gasoline is around $3.859 to $3.959. Regular diesel down the road tonight was at $4.859.

I see a few gas stations in my area are at $3.999. Why the games with the prices? For all intensive purposes that is 4 dollars per gallon!

Since I live in Canada gas is at $1.24 a LITRE. Thats like $4.24 per gallon.

Paid $4.72 for diesel on fill up for fish run on Monday. $111

There are all kinds of excuses like not enough refineries, more demand, we need to drill more etc. but if you ask me most of it is speculation on the stock market and the falling value of the dollar! I can't believe demand would raise the prices that much in one day!

How building more refineries will lower the price of a barrel of oil BEFORE it gets here is beyond me. Furthermore I have seen information that leads me to believe the oil companies DO NOT WANT to build more refineries as it would reduce their profit margins.

Cecil, do you remember the OPEC oil embargo of the eaarly 70's?
They had us by the jugular at that time and we have been hemoraging ever since.
The American public was asleep at wheel while our politicians of both major parties pandered to enviornmentalists for their votes.

There are major natural gas reserves off the west coast of Florida, not to speak of the east and west coast folks with their NIMBY phylosophy.

We have met the enemy and it is us...

I am disappoointed in our "if it feels good do it", instant gratification present day society. that has never experienced
hard times" or personal sacrifice...

In the meantime our public has been conditioned to sit back and cuss the mean old oil companiesa and refineries.
Where has been the public clamor for R&D energy alternatives?

Pardon my rant....
Moderators - moderate..

George,

I'm with you. Cuba and China are drilling away in the Gulf of Mexico but it's off limits to us? Talk about stupid.

What gets me is this country is capable of anything but it's not happening. Part of it IMHO is we need good leadership for that. At the risk of getting political here I'm not seeing it in our congress critters nor the CIC.

The Reason for High Oil Prices--Business Week

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Article subtitle: It's not a supply crisis that explains the sharp spike in oil prices. It's unregulated commodities markets and greed.
I excerpted the three main points in the article regarding demand, supply, & commodities manipulation.

1) Demand:
"One of the things I think is very important to realize is that the growth in the world oil consumption is not that strong." —David Kelly, chief market strategist, J.P. Morgan Funds; The Washington Post, May 4, 2008.

"Chinese consumption is expected to rise this year by only 400,000 b/d—hardly the surging oil demand usually blamed on China in the media. Last year China imported 3.2 million barrels per day, and its estimated usage was around 7 million b/d total. The U.S., by contrast, consumes around 20.7 million b/d. At the same time, MasterCard's (MA) May 7 gasoline report showed that (U.S.) gas demand has fallen by 5.8%, while the government suggested that gasoline consumption might have fallen by slightly over 6%."

2) Supply:
Michael Waldron, the bank's chief oil strategist: "[Oil supply] is outpacing demand growth." Waldron added, "Inventories have been building since the beginning of the year. The Saudi Khursaniya field has just opened, with 500,000 barrels a day of production, and the new Khurais field will start next year with a further 1.2 million b/d [barrels a day]."

"Bloomberg had reported that Iran is again storing its heavy crude on tankers in the Persian Gulf because the country has run out of onshore storage tanks while awaiting buyers. Further, Saudi Arabia has extended discounts on its sour crudes to $7.45 for Arabian Heavy. Doesn't sound like there's any real supply problem with that grade of crude, does it? ... the consensus of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists and the energy executives may be right: No supply crisis justifies the way the world's oil is being priced today."

3) Commodities Market:
"There is substantial evidence that the large amount of speculation in the current market has significantly increased [oil] prices." —U.S. Senate Staff Report, The Role of Market Speculation in Rising Oil and Gas Prices, June 27, 2006

"Commodities have often been the refuge for investors who have lost money on equities or fixed-income investments...Moreover, the commodities rush today is not limited to oil; now we also have runaway food and feed prices. Could it be that all the financial losses on subprime mortgages, plus the anticipation that the option ARM mortgages about to reset could be an even bigger problem, combined with the huge losses in securities last year, are why investment money today is flooding into often unregulated commodities, where the demand pricing of the final goods is inelastic?"

"Consider this: You may not buy gasoline or even eat today, but by next Monday you'll probably have to do both, no matter what it costs."

http://www.businessweek.com/print/li...513_720178.htm

So your saying most of the spike is due to investor speculation, HMMMM. I wonder how many gallons of oil you could render from their fat for bio diesel?

Well Jeff I don't know how old you are (didn't look at your profile), but we had a so called "Energy Crisis" back in 1973. Turns out we were hoodwinked along with president Carter. Ask anyone that remembers it.

I was only 7 but oddly enough I do remember it. I just saw a petition being passed around at Americansolutions.com Apparently Newt Gingrich is the chairman and he is trying to get the attention of Congress to open up domestic oil sources. Seems to be a fairly popular idea. They have over 53,000 signatures already. If nothing else its an interesting history lesson in global politics.

Not sure I'd trust a politician to solve this problem. They are part of the problem in that our leadership has not been proactive whatsoever.

Your preaching to the choir. Term limits in Congress seem like such a great idea. So therefore it will probably never happen

Wow took a drive about 170 miles of my place to pick up two 6 foot circular tanks which I had to put on a utility trailer. Spent about $100.00 in gas. Ouch! Sticker shock!

I see why the state highway in front of my house is a shadow of the traffic it used to have. On certain times of the they day it's virtually dead. Used to be busy 24/7.