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The Wisdom Of Barnyard Bruke: "A Winter Meet'n, More Response to Fox News, Park'n Lot Physicians"

Greetings to everone in western Illinois and all readers of The Quill. I'm a hope'n ya all has braced well for this next round of winter weather.

Shore was nice, I guess, that 54 degree summer teaser of a weather we had us'ns last week. I'm a think'n if'n a few around these parts weren't calve'n, they would have been work'n on gett'n their planters ready.

Some fellers got along well, plant'n last spring in March, so I reckon there's a few now think'n on February plant'n, especially with 54 degree days in January.

Winter Meet'n

Elwood Taylor, the climatologist from Iowa State is think'n on another drought fer some parts of the country in 2013. Our area is right on the borderline fer dryness or a few rains. We needs the rain and much of the moisture from last weeks rain ran off due to a layer of frost a few inches down. That caused some erosion around these parts.

Burlington last week entertained some university folk, one half the age with one tenth the experience, of the average farmer around these parts. They came to tell ever one how to do it better-by the book.

We and the boys took us a quick trip over to the Pazzaz, where the information was distributed. Many young whipper snappers was there, pass'n out wisdom. I'm always in the mood fer more on that. Elwood Taylor, at age 72, was enterst'n to hear and spoke well on experience.

There was a good talk on the cover crops of rye and winter oats. The idea was to hold down on winter erosion like we had last week and provide extra forage fer those folk with cattle.

Diseases of corn and soybeans was discussed along with disappoint'n market price predictions. Overall it was an excellent meet'n, well with the time and effort to attend.

And, I expect this weeks weather is a drive'n the notion out of ever ones mind that we might start work'n on the planter, unless they gots themselves a nice well heated machine shed to work in.

More Response To Fox News

Speak'n of market prices, last weeks information that Buster Jigs brought in to rebuke the misinformation Fox News put out as a fat boy fer "Big Oil", to beat down the well be'ns of us midwestern folks benefit'n from the positive affects of ethanol, is now followed by more information provided by Bill Jones.

Bill Jones researched and found the following response published January 01, 203 by William Holmberg of "Physicians for Social Responsibility". It gives health benefits as positive information obviously omitted in the Fox News report.

Here it is:

Asthma, $16 billion. Premature births, $26 billion. All cancers, $227 billion. Autism, $126 billion. Heart disease, $272 billion. Obesity, incl. Type 2 diabetes, $190 billion. These are government estimates of the annual costs to society of some of the nation's leading health disorders.

Mounting scientific evidence suggests that they share a common linkage; they can be triggered by ubiquitous, nano-sized, particle-borne carcinogens known as PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons), the primary urban source of which is gasoline aromatic compounds used to enhance octane ratings.

PAHs are not only carcinogenic and mutagenic, they are genotoxic, and one of the most pervasive and persistent endocrine disruptor compounds found in the urban environment.

Experts worry that as advanced direct-injected, high compression/turbocharged engines are used to meet new fuel efficiency and carbon rules, urban PAH emissions will likely increase unless fuel quality is improved.

When the medical costs associated with the PAH's carcinogenic/mutagenic emissions are considered, higher quality ethanol gasoline blends could save Americans tens of billions per year in reduced health and energy costs, while also substantially reducing the transportation sector's carbon footprint and dramatically improving our quality of life, especially for urban youth and those who live near congested roadways.

Since the elimination of lead in the 1980s, petroleum refiners have synthesized gasoline aromatics from crude oil via an energy-intensive process. Aromatic compounds are frequently the most expensive components in gasoline and their costs go up as crude oil prices rise.

One piece of good news: recent research by Ford Motor Co. and other experts has fond that partially replacing carcinogenic aromatics with higher blends of ethanol (E-30, which is 30% ethanol mixed with 70% gasoline), could reduce particle-borne toxins and black carbon emissions by as much as 45% or more.

Motorists would benefit from higher octane (94-plus, compared to 87 with today's 10% ethanol blends), better performance, and cleaner-burning fuels.

This would also save money since ethanol is less expensive than aromatics from crude oil.

Even more good news: Congress instructed EPA to reduce gasoline aromatic levels to the greatest degree possible in the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments, so new legislation is not needed.

EPA could act to improve gasoline quality standards in the upcoming Tier 3 rulemaking early next year.

Now for the bad news: the vast financial resources of entrenched international oil and related interests are being mobilized to prevent ethanol from building upon its already significant contribution to U.S. health, fuel supplies and the economy.

Multi-million dollar media attacks have inaccurately, but often successfully, portrayed ethanol as a threat to food supplies and the environment. Nothing could be further from the truth.

First of all, 98% of U.S. corn is not directly consumed by people, but instead used as livestock feed and for other purposes. The use of corn for ethanol leaves much of the corn's protein available to serve as feed.

When the starch portion of an acre of corn is converted to ethanol, the feed grain that remains has as much protein and other equivalent high-value feed products as contained in an acre of soybeans.

Since corn yields are nearly four times greater than soybean yields, the economically and environmentally smart thing to do is to first process the corn to ethanol.

Doing so results in the same amount of protein and feed co-product equivalents offered by an acre of soybeans, but with the additional multi-billion dollar per year bonus of the corn ethanol industry's job creation, health cost savings, oil import reduction, reduced gasoline prices, and environmental benefits.

Corn is categorized as a C4 plant, meaning it has a superior structure in utilizing carbon fixation through photosynthesis. This provides corn with the extraordinary ability to operate better than other categories of plants in conditions of drought, high temperatures, and nitrogen or CO2 limitation. Additionally, corn's genetic makeup allows it move more fertilizer nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorous, to its root zone where it is used for growth rather than polluting ground and surface water.

A multi-year USDA research project recently confirmed that no-till corn equaled switchgrass in SOC (soil organic carbon) formation, and that over half the increase in SOC was below one foot depth.

The researchers estimated that deep soil SOC sequestration benefits of corn have been understated by 60-100% in modeling done to date.

So-called "food vs fuel" attacks have been conjured up by big oil as well as processed food producers and animal feeders who want subsidized U.S. corn to boost their profits.

The ethanol industry eliminated the need for corn subsidies, thereby raising the market value and making corn-growing profitable throughout the world. This led to slightly higher corn production in 2012 than 2011, even with the impact of the drought in America.

Even Michael Pollan, an American author, journalist, activist, and professor of journalism at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism as well as a frequent critic of the current agricultural system, has effusive praise for corn's efficiency as a corp.

"Few plants can manufacture quite as much organic matter (and calories) from the same quantities of sunlight and water and basic elements as corn." Pollan goes on to praise corn's ability to extract carbon from the air in his book, The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History Of Four Meals, when he states, "The C-4 trick represents an important economy for a plant, giving it an advantage...By recruiting extra atoms of carbon during each instance of photosynthesis, the corn plant is able to limit its loss of water and ‘fix'-that is take from the atmosphere and link in a useful molecule-significantly more carbon than other plants."

Substitution ethanol-derived from one of nature's most efficient converters of sunlight and water, most efficient carbon-fixing plants, and a highly efficient source of protein-for carcinogenic, oil-derived, carbon-intensive and costly aromatic hydrocarbons offers society a rare win-win-win proposition.

Thar ya has it then-an appropriate response to "Fox News, Big Oil and all those wish'n to take away the gains of farmers and rural folk as a result of the success of ethanol. Thanks Bill for provid'n our readers with this information.

Park'n Lot Physicians

Try not to catch the flu, get well if'n ya has already got it, and stay close to home if'n ya can. One feller, I heard of had to go up north fer his CDL physical. He made the appointment but insisted on Dr. Pogue perform'n the service out in the park'n lot to avoid any exposure to the flu bugs which might be stalk'n inside the office build'n. I'm a think'n the request was denied, but it was an enterest'n try!

Where ever ya is, what ever ya be a do'in, Be A Good One!

Hope'n to see you'ns in church come this weekend.

Keep on Smile'n

Catch ya Later

BARNYARD BRUKE