View From The Cab

By David Tollefson, Columnist

In these inflationary times, we as consumers have seen almost everything we spend money for go up and up.

For us farmers, that is very true also. But at this time, most farm prices, at least for corn and soybeans at the elevators, remain quite high.

Our inputs, fertilizer, seed, chemicals and fuel remain quite high also. But most of us contract or pay ahead in the winter and spring for the next season’s inputs, so for our 2022 crops there was a rather comfortable margin, unless we had lower yields due to too little rain or in some cases too much. But most of us have federally subsidized insurance to at least break even.

But one input that has stayed quite steady is our electricity costs. My cooperative, Agralite, in Benson, Minnesota has maintained quite reasonable costs.

Manager Kory Johnson, who has led Agralite for just about 15 years, has retired as of the end of 2022.

I found a column that he wrote in the August 2014 issue of Agralite news. I thought I would share it here:

In today’s world, you won’t find many items that cost less than $5. You can purchase a gallon of milk, a gallon of gas or a Big Mac meal from McDonalds. But did you know that an average day’s worth of electricity costs less than $5?

Even in our country’s shifting energy climate, electricity remains a good value. In fact, electricity has the lowest cost per day of any of the items listed above. And not all of those items are necessary for daily life!

As General Manager of Agralite Electric Cooperative, I urge you to think about your daily necessities (electricity and gasoline, to name a couple) and then think about the cost of the special treats we allow ourselves to purchase on a weekly basis. (Maybe even on a daily basis for some items!) We don’t often question the cost of a Big Mac meal – it costs over $1 more to buy a Big Mac meal than it does to purchase a day’s worth of power. And yet, we frequently get upset if our electricity rates rise.

It makes sense; we have become increasingly reliant upon electricity. Electricity has, for many of us, gone from a luxury commodity to a necessity and an expectation. We expect the lights to come on when we flip the switch, and we expect our power to stay on during the best and worst conditions. How else would we keep our food fresh, our homes cool in the summer or warm in the winter? It is easy to cut a Big Mac out of our spending routine here and there to save a few dollars. But we cannot simply cut electricity out of our budgets if times get tough or we decide that we want to scale back our spending in order to save.

Perhaps that is why it is so upsetting to us when our rates increase, even if only in small increments. It is nearly impossible for us to think about what our lives would be like if we did not have electricity. If at times it doesn’t seem that electricity is affordable, remember – even as the demand for electricity grows – annual cost increases still remain low, especially when compared to other consumer goods such as medical care, education, gasoline and, yes, even Big Macs. Electricity is still a great bargain. And remember this: as the General Manager of Agralite Electric Cooperative, your local electric cooperative, I am committed to making sure that you and your family always have safe, reliable and affordable electric service in your home.

So the next time you crave a Big Mac, remember your electric bill, and think about what a great deal you’re getting for your dollar!

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Since January 3-4 I have had no real measurable snow here south of Starbuck. There have been some instances of light snow or snow flurries, but nothing to really measure. But it has been enough to drift across rural highways and make some slick spots, especially if the sun is out.   

In the forecast for the next couple days, we are supposed to have measurable snow in the 1-3 inch range, along with some northwest winds. So that’s going to be the end of our moderate, sometimes very foggy weather, extending way into the month of February. We may not see icicles off our eavestroughs for awhile, but we may see sun dogs again in the mornings, as we have a few times this winter.

So, stay warm, and travel carefully if you must. I find the 511 numbers to check road conditions very helpful.

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Please contact David Tollefson with thoughts or comments on this or future columns at: adtollef@hcinet.net