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The Rural Voice, 2000-04, Page 58Tractor & Combine Parts We're your New, Used 4 Renton 49 Parts Specialists same day shipping CaII us for all your Engine Overhaul needs ph. 1-800-372-7149 fax 1-800-372-7150 FAWCETT Tractor Supply Ltd. www.fawcett.cc sales(a fawcett.cc 2126 Road 120. St. Marys. Ont. (519) 284-2379 • fax 284-4062 1 If you've got a lot of land to cover and hard work to do, take a Polaris RANGER. Nothing beats it for farm work, construction, hunting and other farm and recreational uses. ,o,GEORGIAN POWER SPORTS INC. Highway 6 south of Durham 519-369-3594 P©LRRIS' RIDE THE BEST 54 THE RURAL VOICE Advice machinery and labour inputs by up to 20 per cent, lime and farm chemicals by eight per cent, phosphorus and potash fertilizer by seven per cent, and seed by one per cent. If the observation of the "old timer" is true, farmers will also see manufacturers passing on 100 per cent of their increased costs for all the other inputs farmers use. Overall increases from these changes will affect producers by an average of 18 per cent by the end of the next production cycle. Farmers don't have many options for managing oil prices. They must concentrate on what they do control on their farms. One factor could be to reduce the amount of inputs for this season. While this may improve the immediate cash flow concerns, it could be to the detriment of long term yields and also future sales. What can be done? 1) Look at the cost of field work Average use of fuel per acre is as follows: Plowing requires — 2.12 gallons of fuel Tandem disking — .71 gallons Harrowing — .27 gallons Drilling grain — .50 gallons Corn planting — .44 gallons Combining — 1.53 gallons Mowing — .62 gallons Raking — .27 gallons These average usage rates may suggest that farmers can use the substitution principle and change "how" they produce a crop. Will this be the year that farmers accept slightly lower yields and benefit from minimal tillage? 2) Match equipment with proper power source — Oversized or undersized equipment will decrease efficiency and will therefore increase total fuel requirements. 3) Take advantage of pasturing systems — Livestock have the ability to go to feed and spread nutrients at a lower cost than equipment. 4) Buy inputs now — If your "crystal ball" indicates oil prices will rise, don't take advantage of procrastination week. 5) Change your crop mix — It has been further indicated by Lines that one-third of non -land inputs for corn are energy related whereas one-fifth of non -land soybean inputs are i