Martins in the news
Farmers run machinery on vegetable oilUpdated: 12/2/2006 4:24 PMBy: Dana Hendrickson
The Martins work hard to live simply, but they do it cheaper and cleaner than other farmers. Luray Martin's family owns 400 acres of land and runs all of his farm machinery on vegetable oil.
Luray Martin, a farmer, said, "We've been inventing things and doing things for years already, and this is just another thing that we are doing that is just a little different from everyone else."
You've heard of cars and buses being powered by bio-diesel fuel, even oil from French fries heating homes and restaurants. But how about vegetable oil running a farm? News 10 Now's Dana Hendrickson tells us more.
The Martins fuel about 20 pieces of equipment on oil restaurants leave behind. And it's a trend Peter Barney of the Cornell Cooperative Extension says other farmers should follow.
Peter Barney, a CCE Agronomy Specialist, said "Energy is expensive. Anything we can do to produce energy and do it cheaper is better."
For the past 18 months, the Martin's have run their farms from more than 3,000 gallons of vegetable oil they pick up from Potsdam restaurants. And although they don't save too much money, for the Martins, it's more about going back to basics.
Martin said "That's probably the bottom line: self sufficiency, getting away from the dependency on everyone else."
And the Martin's latest display of energy independence, a wind mill, made from bicycle parts.
"They're very innovative, they're kind of fun to watch, and I'm getting to know them better. What it shows is this can be done on a small scale, on an individual farm," Barney said.
But because of processing costs, fuel conditioners, and a faulty pump, the Martins have broken even in the bank.
"We still have to buy motor oil and antifreeze and all kinds of different things, so it's tough, but we're trying as far as we can get," Martin said.
And in the process of living simple, these farmers will be thinking of their next innovative idea.
Original article with pictures and video ....
The Martins work hard to live simply, but they do it cheaper and cleaner than other farmers. Luray Martin's family owns 400 acres of land and runs all of his farm machinery on vegetable oil.
Luray Martin, a farmer, said, "We've been inventing things and doing things for years already, and this is just another thing that we are doing that is just a little different from everyone else."
You've heard of cars and buses being powered by bio-diesel fuel, even oil from French fries heating homes and restaurants. But how about vegetable oil running a farm? News 10 Now's Dana Hendrickson tells us more.
The Martins fuel about 20 pieces of equipment on oil restaurants leave behind. And it's a trend Peter Barney of the Cornell Cooperative Extension says other farmers should follow.
Peter Barney, a CCE Agronomy Specialist, said "Energy is expensive. Anything we can do to produce energy and do it cheaper is better."
For the past 18 months, the Martin's have run their farms from more than 3,000 gallons of vegetable oil they pick up from Potsdam restaurants. And although they don't save too much money, for the Martins, it's more about going back to basics.
Martin said "That's probably the bottom line: self sufficiency, getting away from the dependency on everyone else."
And the Martin's latest display of energy independence, a wind mill, made from bicycle parts.
"They're very innovative, they're kind of fun to watch, and I'm getting to know them better. What it shows is this can be done on a small scale, on an individual farm," Barney said.
But because of processing costs, fuel conditioners, and a faulty pump, the Martins have broken even in the bank.
"We still have to buy motor oil and antifreeze and all kinds of different things, so it's tough, but we're trying as far as we can get," Martin said.
And in the process of living simple, these farmers will be thinking of their next innovative idea.
Original article with pictures and video ....
posted by Melvin Martin @ 9:16 PM
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