MOULTRIE, GA (WALB) -
The opening day of the 35th annual Sunbelt Agricultural Expo is wrapped up about 5:00. Tens of thousands of people poured through the gates at Spence Field in Moultrie.
The 600 acre showcase includes 100 acres of exhibits by manufacturers, industries, and universities highlighting the latest in Ag technology and research.
Bobby and Vickie Beagles traveled from Christmas, Florida for the 15h straight year to get the latest on the cattle industry.
"If you don't keep up, you are going to be out of business. That's the biggest thing, with the price of diesel fuel today, you can't waste none. For no reason," Beagles said.
An engine fueled by propane fires up, and attracts the attention of farmers and growers trying to find alternatives to $4 diesel fuel.
"But with propane $1.99 a gallon for vehicles, or even less for some of their Ag use. It's substantially less fuel costs," said Georgia Propane Gas Associates Alternative Fuel Manager Bill Moore.
Propane is not new. They celebrated the 100th anniversary of propane use in Georgia at the Sunbelt Ag Expo, but showed off dozens of vehicles and uses for the gas that could save farmers production costs.
"The thing about propane, it's an American made fuel. We get 90 percent of our propane here in the United States. We don't import it," Moore said.
Farmers and growers were also checking out solar energy new technologies. GPS run solar panels are more efficient and cost 30 to 40 percent less than last year, giving them more uses for farmers.
"If you had cattle in the back pasture and you didn't want to get the EMC or Georgia Power to run you a line, which is very expensive back there, you could use solar to create that for water, and in some cases pivots," said Hannah Solar representative Bill Elliott.
Alternative fuels that could cut the production costs are some of the many technologies that farmers really taking note of at the Sunbelt Ag Expo.
Agriculture operations using solar power can get tax incentives and even earn credits from power companies.
The three-day event has an estimated $16 million impact on the region's economy. Combined with other Expo-related events throughout the year, the impact is $32 million.
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Even a 1959 tractor can run on propane, at $1.99 a gallon
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