Reply With QuoteWhy caint they ship the grain by trucks? Not that I care about the birds over the farmers. I just do not see how that would stop them from shipping the grain.
A federal judge has ruled that the Corp of Engineers must lower the Missouri enough to shut down barge traffic, making sure that grain will not be shipped. If they do not do it by Friday, she will fine them $500,000 per day. It could have the effect of bankrupting farmers and completely killing barge traffic.
The only reason for this is to accomodate the breeding areas fo the Lesser Tern and other 'endangered' wildlife. The environmentalists have stated that their goal is to return the river flow to the flood or drought conditions in the past.
There use to be a day when the judiciary was a part of the government, not a government separate and sovereign over the elected government.
Why caint they ship the grain by trucks? Not that I care about the birds over the farmers. I just do not see how that would stop them from shipping the grain.
JOHNNYBEGOOD:
Why caint they ship the grain by trucks? Not that I care about the birds over the farmers. I just do not see how that would stop them from shipping the grain. One barge can haul over two million pounds of grain. An 18 wheeler can carry around 43,000 pounds. So 46 truckloads carrying the same load times a 1200 mile trip at $1.45 a mile equals $80,000 or thereabouts. The barge would cost around $13,000 for the same mileage.
That $67,000 comes out of someone's pocket, and I suspect it's the farmer's. It's "only" $.03 a pound, but that's probably the farmer's entire profit on the grain.
I would think that the farmers would pass that $0.03 onto the consumer. That way they would keep there profit, the trucking industry would get a big boost ( I am in the transportation industry ), and the birds are breeding. This makes everyone happy except the bardge drivers.
JOHNNYBEGOOD:
I would think that the farmers would pass that $0.03 onto the consumer. That way they would keep there profit, the trucking industry would get a big boost ( I am in the transportation industry ), and the birds are breeding. This makes everyone happy except the bardge drivers. When you talking .03 per pound the buyer buys by then ton. You're talking $60 more a ton. That would have to be spent. Average load is about 22 tons and you talking a difference of $1320 a load. So because the buyer has to pay more the consumer now pays more for and dairy product or meat product. Pretty nasty trickle down affect.
Yeah, but that's just one of the costs that increase. The grain terminal is gonna charge a penny or two more for loading the trucks. Same unloading it. Prolly costs more to insure 46 loads on the road instead of one on the river.
Spillage is going to increase, so that's just unrecoverable loss. The buyer at the other end isn't going to care about the birds. He can opt to buy grain that came from areas closer to the terminal and is therefore cheaper. It gets ugly pretty quickly.
[ July 23, 2003, 01:50 PM: Message edited by: rrrr ]
The judge should go finger f--k herself. eek!
Tell the environmentalist assholes to leave well enough alone.
After centuries of flooding the Lesser Terns are still around.
You would think by now the "Terns" would have learned not to build their nests so close to the bank of the river.
HD
Keep screwing the people the feed everyone and the planet will soon be right back where it started from, then the environmentalists will be finally happy. Dead but happy.
JBG: If the farmers had a captive market, they couldpass on the costs, but they have to compete with other farmers in the US, Canada and elsewhere. Farmers struggle when everything goes right. They don't need any more headaches.
Maybe the judge needs to work a few months on a farm or barge.
This situation is but one tiny example of human encroachment into the wild world, and similar things are happening all over the earth. The judge's ruling is like putting her finger into a dike and hoping to stop the flood.
I used to think we could share this planet with other creatures in harmony, but that was 40 years ago when I was a hippie. I have no idealistic illusions on that matter now.
The human race is breeding its way into extinction, and we will take a fair number of species with us.
[ July 23, 2003, 10:58 PM: Message edited by: Catmando ]
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