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Missourinet

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Attorney General’s office finds propane price spikes caused by market factors

June 10, 2014 By Mike Lear

The Attorney General’s Office says several factors drove up the cost of propane for Missouri customers last winter and says they could continue in future winters, but price gouging was not one of them.

In a report released today Attorney General Chris Koster says low propane supplies from November through the winter were mixed with high demand due to a record corn crop that was wetter and came in later than normal, and an unusually cold and early winter. Propane exports also set records and cut into domestic supplies, and changes in recent years to the path propane must take to the Midwest make it hard to quickly redirect supplies when demand spikes.

Koster says his office talked to propane industry representatives, government entities and consumers and reviewed pricing and profit data from retailers looking for evidence of gouging. It also investigated about 250 complaints from Missouri consumers regarding propane prices and interviewed 80 consumers. It has recovered more than $3,000 for Missouri propane consumers and continues mediation on other complaints.

“While our investigation concludes that market forces drove higher propane prices, we are still actively responding to complaints from Missouri propane consumers on a case-by-case basis,” says Koster. “My office will continue to examine each circumstance to determine if propane suppliers violated Missouri consumer protection laws during this period of price instability.”

The report cautions that the production, infrastructure and export patterns to which it attributes the price spikes of the winter of 2013/14 could continue into future winters. It offers several suggestions to consumers to protect against future price instability.

Those are:

  • Consider a pre-purchase fixed price or maximum price plan offered by propane dealers during warmer months.
  • Consider the supplier’s track record and reputation, and shop around. Some suppliers have a greater ability to access inventory during times of peak demand.
  • Research whether it makes sense to own or lease a tank. Consumers who own their own propane tank often have greater flexibility in choosing a supplier, while those who lease must often only purchase propane from the tank owner.

Koster’s office conducted the investigation at the request of Senator Mike Parson (R-Bolivar) and Representative Jay Houghton (R-Martinsburg).  Consumers reported spikes in propane prices from less than $2.00 per gallon to more than $5.00 per gallon from December 2013 to January 2014.

Read the full report here

Filed Under: Agriculture, News Tagged With: Chris Koster, corn, Mike Parson, propane

Recent rains do not mean salvation for corn, soybeans

September 7, 2012 By Mike Lear

Rain the last two weeks might be too late to be of any help to the state’s soybean and corn farmers.

Just because soybean fields are green and don’t look dry like most cornfields this year, does not mean they are productive. (Photo courtesy, Karma Metzgar)

Some soybean farmers resisted cutting their crops for silage, hoping to salvage a bigger crop out of them. University of Missouri Agronomist Bill Wiebold says rains in the last couple of weeks could help maintain the pods that are there or make seeds a little larger, but that’s about it.

“I think they’ve helped a little but not very much. What we have gone through this summer, soybean plants have flowered and flowered and flowered but not kept very many of those flowers on, and so the plants have very few pods on them and just no capacity or very little capacity to produce any additional flowers.”

Corn plants, most of which died weeks ago, now run the additional risk of fungal infection as a result of rain. Wiebold says that makes harvesting what is left as soon as possible a priority.

“Even though the yield’s not very good, every bushel that we can bring in is income. What we’ve been saying is a timely harvest, even with a poor harvest in terms of yield … is still important.”

Wiebold says the harvest of most soybeans will begin in about three weeks.

Filed Under: Agriculture, News, Weather Tagged With: Bill Wiebold, corn, drought, soybeans



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