FARMERS WILL PUMP ETHANOL ON FRIDAY

FRUITLAND -- Some area farmers plan to don gas station attendant caps Friday at an area convenience store to tout the benefits of corn-produced ethanol-blended gasoline.

Roger Schwab, a Jackson farmer and member of the Missouri Corn Growers Association's board of directors, said the farmers will pump gas for those buying the ethanol blend at the Fruitland D Mart. The promotion will run from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The event is being held as part of a statewide ethanol promotion day by the Missouri Corn Growers Association in coordination with the Missouri Corn Merchandising Council. Through the promotion, Missouri's corn farmers hope to increase the demand for their crop, making agriculture and rural America more economically sound, the Missouri Corn Growers Association said.

Along with pumping the gasoline, the area farmers will clean the windows on the motorists' vehicles, said Schwab. The farmers will also distribute printed information about ethanol, he said, and talk to the motorists about the fuel.

Motorists who fill up their vehicles with the fuel will also receive a large ice cream cone from the convenience store, Schwab said. A spokesperson at D Mart said Wednesday that a gallon of the store's ethanol blend gasoline costs 99 cents, the same as a gallon of the store's regular unleaded gasoline.

Schwab said the farmers are trying to make the public more aware of the availability of ethanol. He cited several reasons why people should want to run their vehicles on the gasoline.

"It's clean burning, absolutely safe for your car. It's even recommended in some owners manuals. It also ... helps rural areas' economies by helping the farmer," he said.

The use of ethanol also helps to cut the nation's dependence on foreign oil, said Schwab.

He said there is the possibility of an ethanol plant being built in the Sikeston area. The plant, he said, is one of six being proposed by a company for construction throughout the United States.

"I guess what I'm saying is it (ethanol) could help the rural economies as a whole. Not just in Cape or Jackson, but across the state or the Midwest. It's just another overall advantage of using our own corn for fuel," he said.

Schwab said he did not know how many area farmers will be pumping gas Friday. He said he just told the farmers to stop by if they got the chance.

Ethanol-blended gasoline contains 10 percent ethanol, Schwab said. The ethanol raises the gasoline's octane level by about two points, he said.

The Missouri Corn Growers Association said ethanol reduces carbon monoxide emissions by up to 25 percent. Last year, it said, nearly 400 million bushels of corn were used to produce fuel grade ethanol in the United States. That compares with 70 million bushels in 1980, said the association.

In a related development Wednesday, St. Louis Mayor Vincent C. Schoemehl Jr. said the city would convert its 1,400-vehicle fleet to ethanol-blended fuels. The move makes St. Louis the largest municipality to make such a conversion, Schoemehl said.