I’m writing in response to the letters and articles about the ethanol issue. Mr. Woell and others have turned this into “bash the farmers.”

As a farmer, I feel responsible to stand up and plead my case even though this is a government decision on what happens with ethanol.

Farmers are very hard working individuals for what they get in return for their labor. Everywhere one looks, one sees combines in the field. Those farmers are putting in up to eighteen hours a day during the busy seasons. They work hard to make a dollar so they can put food on the table for their families. Some ignorant people choose to forget that the food that they eat comes from the farmer.

Let’s look at the commodity prices for the farmers. Now compare the prices for goods that are made from those commodities in the grocery store. Who is making the money? The farmers are not looking for your money directly, it is the indirect ways of regular business tactics that are looking for your money.

I don’t know what business you may work in, but think about this: How many businesses operate with red ink?

Farmers doing this is why we look for alternative ways to market our products, and ethanol happens to be one of them. If our prices remained constant, there would be no need for subsidies from the government.

Let’s look at the whole picture before we start criticizing each other.

If Mr. Woell was looking to create a controversy, I’d like to congratulate him on a job well done!

Craig Christensen

Sophomore

Agricultural education