Neither will he give up on looking for support from the government to help manufacturers that make corn-burning stoves and the farms that use them.

Harvill has spent $45,000 to install corn-burning stoves in three of his broiler houses. He says the stoves cut propane costs by at least 90 percent.

The subject of a meeting held March 30 at the Shoal Creek Revival Church southwest of Pierce City was burning corn to heat poultry houses and the need for government money to help build and use the stoves.

Harvill said last year he used 8,000 gallons of propane at a cost of $1.10 a gallon ($8,800) to heat a 16,000-square-foot house.

Heat cost for the same size house using 1,000 bushels of corn at $4 per bushel was $4,000, according to his information. A bushel of corn generates the same amount of heat as 5.5 gallons of propane, he said.

“I have been upset for five years. I do not like depending on foreign oil. High propane costs are driving us in the poultry industry crazy. Propane costs are holding us hostage,” he said.

Source: The Joplin Globe