05/24/07 Rising fuel, fertilizer prices

Fred Sarceda farms 350 acres near Wilder where we found him tending to his nearly planted corn and alfalfa. SARCEDA "Commodity prices have come out of the box strong. Contracts are good. In the meantime fuel, fertilizer, anything else has also increased so your margins are still going to be about the same." Gasoline and diesel prices are nearly a dollar per gallon higher than they were in January, the low point of the past 12 months. Fertilizer costs are up an average 50 cents per pound from last year. SARCEDA "These big major oil companies are really putting a burden on every segment of life whether its agriculture or your common laborer. They tend to pass that on to fertilizers, your chemicals, freight on anything that you have shipped in." Sarceda says consumers will also feel the pinch as food prices continue to climb. He says he and thousands of farmers in this state can help provide the nation with food and fuel. SARCEDA "Ethanol I feel is going to be an answer. I would really like to see us where we are not dependent on these OPEC countries to furnish this oil." Voice of Idaho Agriculture Bill Scott