Farmers Plow On as Leaded Gas Supply Shrinks

Farmers have added another problem to their list of worries--where to find leaded gasoline for old but serviceable tractors.

“We know that in a few years it will virtually disappear from the market,” said Martha Casey, spokeswoman for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. “I don’t know how that market is going to turn out for farmers.”

Major refineries and most service stations no longer sell gasoline containing lead, which the EPA has been trying to phase out for the last decade. Major refineries quit producing leaded fuel because of the EPA’s tougher pollution controls and declining demand.

But leaded gasoline still is needed to run tractors, grain trucks, combines and other farm machinery bought in the 1970s or before. Using unleaded gasoline can damage the engines, an EPA study found.

The majority of heavy farm work is done by diesel-powered tractors and combines. The situation remains serious, however, for small farms and bigger operations that use light tractors for some work, said Gary Huddleston, information director for the Kentucky Farm Bureau Assn.

Based on a 1985 questionnaire, the Federal Farm Bureau Federation estimates that there are an average of 10 engines per U.S. farm that use leaded fuel, said Jim Porterfield, associate director of the federation’s environmental division.

“Nearly half of the farmers said they want to continue using those engines for another 10 or 15 years at least,” Porterfield said.

“It puts us in a difficult position. It will impose some hardship,” said Mike Crouse, who was told his supplier would no longer have leaded fuel for two tractors he uses to farm 166 acres near Dixon, Ky.

Making things more complicated, the EPA requires service stations that sell gasoline containing a phosphorous-based additive, but no lead, to label the fuel as “leaded.” Farmers may not realize that they are not buying fuel with lead, which is needed to lubricate and protect valve seats in older truck and tractor engines.

EPA studies of additives marketed to make unleaded gasoline safe for older engines have been inconclusive.

Crouse said he cannot afford to replace the valve seats on his tractors, which would enable them to accept unleaded gasoline. The work would cost several hundred dollars, he said.

The situation varies from state to state.

Indiana farmers should have less trouble than some finding leaded gasoline because the Indiana Farm Bureau Cooperative Assn.’s refinery will provide more of the fuel as supplies dwindle elsewhere, said Ronald Stover, vice president of the co-op’s petroleum division.

“Our leaded gasoline sales continue to increase although the market is shrinking overall,” he said. “We’ve gained about 7% per year in the farm market during the last couple of years, when most of the majors dropped out.”

But in some areas of Kentucky there is no leaded fuel available, Huddleston said.