High Gas Prices Drive Farmer To Switch To Mules

MCMINNVILLE, Tenn. — High gas prices have driven a Warren County farmer and his sons to hitch a tractor rake to a pair of mules to gather hay from their fields. T.R. Raymond bought Dolly and Molly at the Dixon mule sale last year. Son Danny Raymond trained them and also modified the tractor rake so the mules could pull it.

T.R. Raymond says the mules are slower than a petroleum-powered tractor, but there are benefits.

"This fuel's so high, you can't afford it," he said. "We can feed these mules cheaper than we can buy fuel. That's the truth."

And Danny Raymond says he just likes using the mules around the farm.

"We've been using them quite a bit," he said.

Brother Robert Raymond added, "It's the way of the future."

Comments

[Bannister]

Not mule related, but what happens to the price of diesel if gas goes to $12-15? Wouldn't this put the trucking industry out of business? I can't see UPS delivering my Amazon orders by mule train. I haven't seen this addressed anywhere but the prospects are driving me to stock up on rice, beans, tuna and cooking oil. The suburbs will lose population to the cities, and bullets will be hot selling items. All because no one paid attention to the warnings of a lot of far-sighted people.

[mlaiuppa]

I imagine a lot that is trucked across country will be freighted by train. Our rail system (which used to be quite extensive AND efficient before it was largely dismantled) will be rebuilt, but not to the extent it was. Rail is more cost efficient than trucking or air so I see a resurgence for both freight and passenger rail travel. We'll need to learn to be patient and cross the country in days rather than hours. Tough. Plan ahead and learn to live with it.

We will have to rely on more local produce AND buy more seasonally. We used to. We will again.

I know how to can. (Or should I say...jar?) I've got enough ground for a small garden. People managed during the war years. (That would be WWII.) We will again.

Like buses, trucks will move to alternative fuels such as bio-diesel or natural gas. But they'll lose their prominence for long distance hauling. They will become much more localized, moving goods from freight depots to close, local destinations.

I don't think you'll lose all of those suburbs, but those front lawns will give way to more practical landscaping. I've already put in fruit trees: lemon, orange, tangerine, 2 apricot, 2 apple. I'm thinking of replacing an ornamental plum in the front with a fig. I have a recycling washer, a tankless water heater and photovoltaic on the roof. I hope to eventually replace my hybrid with an EV.

[mlaiuppa]

Not only that, but you can treat their manure for natural fertilizer. And .....you could breed them and either sell the offspring or add to your workforce.

[BonnieJW]

I didn't think you could breed mules. Aren't they a cross between a horse and a donkey? Aren't they sterile?

[mlaiuppa]

Sorry. Yes, mules are sterile. I was looking at the picture. Which apparently has been removed because those aren't mules. They're draft horses.

You can breed horses. Also donkeys. You're right. Mules are sterile. But....not endangered. And they probably last longer than some farm machinery with less maintenance.

[ratcityreprobate]

I assume that a stock photo was used with this story rather than a picture of Mr. Raymond's animals because those are Belgian draft horses not mules in the photo.

[PermacultureMainer]

We have 117 horses in my town right now.....I expect to see mules,oxen­,donkeys,m­ore horses and a lot of chickens really soon......