08/02/07 Sarceda farm profile

Back in early spring we spent some time on Fred Sarceda's 350 acre farm near Wilder. As the below normal winter snowpack started melted in the mountains Sarceda wasn't concerned about irrigation water. With reservoir carryover there seemed to be enough. Fuel was his mind last March and April. SARCEDA "These big major oil companies are really putting the burden on every segment of life, whether its agriculture or your common laborer. Not only is the fuel price high they tend to pass that on to your fertilizers, your chemicals." Sarceda felt the time was right for ethanol production in the US and he wants to see some of that production here in Idaho. SARCEDA "I would really like to see us to where we're not dependent on these OPEC Countries to furnish oil." As we visited later in the season Sarceda was tending to the alfalfa and corn crop, repairing a tractor wheel, doing the things that he's done for years. SARCEDA "Another average day, five steps forward, seven backwards. But the bright side, diesel is coming down." But now he has a new concern, water. That part of the story tomorrow. Voice of Idaho Agriculture Bill Scott