The Salina Journal from Salina, Kansas • Page 7

FARM DILEMMA End of embargo could mean jump in corn and cattle prices By News Service WASHINGTON If President-elect Ronald Reagan keeps his campaign promise to lift the Russian grain embargo, corn could rise 50 cents to $1 a bushel and lead to a significant Jump in beef prices, Carter Administration officials said this week. President Carter's embargo in Jan 1980 prevented the Soviets from buying 12 million metric tons of corn and approximately five million in wheat a year. If Reagan sells the Soviets the 12 million tons of corn, U.S. corn supplies would shrink drastically, according to Tom Sand, assistant to Agriculture Secretary Bob Bergland. U.S.

production of corn has dropped 17 percent since Carter's announcement, according to agriculture department figures. And since corn is the main ingredient in feed grains, farmers would have trouble maintaining livestock if corn supplies are low. Thus, beef would be in short supply and would cost more at the supermarket, Sand said. Reagan's Agriculture Secretary designate John Block said at his Senate confirmation hearings the Reagan Administration may authorize wheat shipments to the Soviets after July 1. But Block said sales beyond wheat such as corn would be considered on a "step by step" basis.

Sand urged Reagan if he lifts the embargo to sell little or no corn. "It could put livestock producers in a real squeeze, echoed Jim Nix, a member of the Agriculture Department's World Outlook Board. Randy Weber, an agriculture department senior program analyst, estimated the retail price for a pound of beef (which is now $2.50) could rise 30 percent if the embargo is lifted. He also said a bushel of corn, which is how $3.30, could go up $1. Sand and other officials said it is impossible to predict exactly how much prices would jump because the world food market is so speculative.

"There's no doubt that (beef and corn) prices would go up (if the embargo is lifted), said Sand. "It's just a question of how much." Under normal conditions, corn goes up 10 cents a bushel for every additional 2tt million tons sold, according to Agriculture Department figures. If the Soviets purchased 12 million tons, that would be at least a 50 cent a bushel hike. But the limited supply of corn would add to the increase, which accounts for Weber's estimate. Richard Lyng, one-time contender for the agriculture secretory post in the Reagan Administration, said two months ago higher food prices would help combat inflation.

Lyng said it would farmers to increase production in turn would lead to greater exports and twister the value of the dollar. The Great Plains The Salina ournal Alternate energy source has some cursing wind HAYS (HNS) a wind generator in the absence of wind isn't east, but Mike Cooper didn't let a calm day destroy a public unveiling of his con. troversial 80-foot tower and electrical generator. The apparatus, erected in Cooper's backyard in Hays, has faparked complaints from, several of his neighbors, who in. list the tower is unsightly, noisy and dangerous.

Cooper, who has steered clear of public debate, recently used electricity to crank up the generator. Normal conver- rations on a quiet day are enough to drown out any noise from the generator that sits high on its perch. Answering charges that the steel, triangular tower is a peril, Cooper pointed out that it is anchored in concrete and is engineered to withstand winds of more than 100 miles- perhour. Cooper said he personally has fielded only one complaint about the tower but several complaints have been directed to city employees and commissioners, who have said that Cooper has violated no city ordinances by installing the generator. Commissioners also said the only recourse would be a law suit in civil court.

neighbor reportedly hired Hays attorney Tom Toepfer to carry the fight, but Toepfer has declined comment. No suits have been filed in district court. said people have a "moral obligation" to explore all types of renewable energy sources, including the "Conservation is, a legacy we have to pass on," he said. "We have to teach the youngsters to conserve. It's going to be worse for them." The power plant in Cooper's backyard, which sells for 19,305 installed, Consists of an Enertech generator atop a specially built tower.

Sunflower Power Company, Os- kaloosa, sells and installs the plants. The manufacturer estimates the generator will cut a family's power bill by 40 to 80 percent, depending on wind speeds, and will pay for itself in six to eight years. The payback period can be reduced by taking advantage of federal and.state tax credits that allow homeowners to deduct a large share of the costs. Cooper said he would be happy with a 50 percent savings each year, but added he hasn't had 'the generator long enough to know if that is possible. An anemometer that measures wind speed extends from the tower about 12 feet below the generator, Cooper said.

When the winds reach eight to 10 mph, the anemometer throws a switch that sends a short burst of juice to the generator, starting it. Once it's running, the generator requires no power other than the wind and it begins producing electricity. Electricity produced by the generator is fed directly into Central Kansas Power Company's lines to the house, he said. When the generator is producing more electricity than the house is consuming, the excess is fed into CKP's lines, turning Cooper's meter backwards. In that case, Cooper, in effect, is selling electricity to the power company, further reducing his power bill.

Inside Cooper's garage are a meter that keeps a running total of kilowatts produced by the generator and gauges that measure windspeed and the rate of production. The generator can produce between watts per hour at optimum wind speeds of 23-24 mph, Cooper said. Efficiency drops off at higher wind speeds and the generator kicks off automatically at 40 mph. AT ROYAL TIRE CO. WE'LL PUT YOUR FULL-SIZE ON MICHELIN XWW RADIALS FOR AS LOW AS I i 2.24 FET FOR MID-SIZE AMERICAN CARS 185-14 195-14 205-14 215-14 76.74 FOR FULL-SIZE AMERICAN CARS XWW, 14 inch NTS CAM SUCH AS: Cantary (71-81), Mallbu (7M1).

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Keith Sebelius, received telegrams sent by President-elect Ronald Reagan and former president Gerald Ford at a banquet Sunday held in his honor. Other leading Republicans among the 400 persons in attendance were Sen. Nancy Landon Kassebaum, R- Pat Roberts, Sebelius' successor, and GOP state party chairman Morris Kay. Sebelius retired from the House after 12 years to enter private law practice. Republicans announced at the meeting that the Norton reservoir had been renamed Keith Sebelius Lake by an act of Congress.

Injuries prove fatal TOPEKA, Kan. (UPI) A rural Shawnee County man has died of injuries suffered in a tractor accident. Authorities said David Caviness, 23, fell off the tractor he was driving and the vehicle rolled over him. He died late Saturday at a hospital. Authorities said he was driving a tractor in a pasture near his home at the time of the accident.

Rural Digest The Dickinson County Conservation District's annual meeting will be Jan. 22 at? 7 p.m. in Sterl Hall. A free supper will be served by the Dickinson County Bankers Association, Dickinson County Contractors and the Conservation District. The speaker will be Dr.

Ramona Anshutaj education program specialist, Department of Education, Topeka. Banker's conservation awards and grad school poster, essay and limerick contest awards also will be presented. In addition, two supervisors will be elected to fill the expiring terms of Roy Jacobson and Virgil Jaecke. Reservations can be made by calling 263-1250. Hayley Jo Matson, a Kansas State University freshman and 10-year 4-H member in Washington County, has been named this year's winner of the J.

Harold and Ijn- Verne Johnson 4-H Scholarship. Ms. Matson won the $300 award on the basis of her activities while she wdfi a member of the Lucky Four 4-H Club. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs.

Leonard Matson. Elmer "Pete" Donley Jr. is the new office manager of the Ellsworth County Fanners Cooperative Union. Donley fills the vacancy created when Alan Doubrava was promoted to general manager. Donley, who was raised on a farm in northeast Ellsworth County, was assistant funeral director at Grubb-Parsons Funeral Home.

Grain receiving and storage facilities of Mid-Kansas Co-op Association at Mouii- dridge and Groveland are being expanded and modernized with completion scheduled prior to the 1961 wheat harvest. McPherson Concrete Storage Systems, has the contract for work at both sites which includes building an additional 309,000 bushels of storage capacity nt the two elevators. At the Groveland station, two concrete structures measuring 36-by-116-feet are under construction. They have a capacity of 202,000 bushels and will be integrated with the existing elevator. The finished facility also will Include overhead bins and truck load-outs on the new structures.

At Moundridge, a receiving pit with a 10,000 bushel per hour capacity leg IN being constructed and a 40-by-lOO-foot concrete storage tank has been built next to the leg and dump. The new tank has a capacity of 107,000 bushels. In addition to the new construction, McPherson Concrete is modifying five existing storage bins and integrating them into the new facility. Mid-Kansas Co-op is headquartered at Moundridge and also has grain facilities at Buhler in Reno County and Inman In McPherson County. -tr Far-Mar-Co, Inc.

of Hutchinson has created a new truck marketing division and named Ronald R. Stucky its manager. Stucky, originally from Pratt, has been executive vice president In charge of operations for Garvey Elevators since 1974. Stucky also Is past president of the Hutchinson Board of Trade and second vice president of the Kansas Grain and Feed Dealers Association. CALHOUN'S SALE FURTHER 2018 S.

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