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Groton Daily Independent
Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017 ~ Vol. 25 - No. 102 ~ 17 of 63
That makes the bill is a “double whammy” for the industry, Welty said, when combined with hub prices in Pennsylvania that recently have ranged from one-half to one-third of the price at a benchmark hub in Louisiana.
“That’s why you’re seeing capital ow to other basins” in other states where prices are higher, Welty said.
Pennsylvania’s lower prices are due to a lack of pipeline capacity to bring the gas to customers, accord- ing to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, an arm of the Energy Department.
Meanwhile, the industry and other business groups roundly say there is a profound need for faster per- mits: Long and uncertain wait times play havoc with a business’ ability to keep its crews, equipment and money available. That hurts the economy, they say, but environmental groups bitterly oppose the Senate’s proposed permitting changes.
Joe Minott, executive director of the Philadelphia-based Clean Air Council, on Wednesday said the natural gas tax “should not be used to trade away the clean air and water of Pennsylvanians.”
In any case, the industry has been encouraged by higher prices at the Louisiana hub, and the number of shale wells drilled in Pennsylvania has almost doubled in 2017 compared with the same point last year. DiGirolamo said he does not believe a tax will hurt Marcellus Shale exploration in Pennsylvania, which
also sits atop another relatively unexplored shale formation, the Utica Shale.
“They’re paying this tax in every other state,” DiGirolamo said. “They’re not leaving. The jobs are still
there.”
North Dakota grapes see successful harvest despite drought
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota’s wine industry has seen an unusually productive harvest despite severe drought conditions this summer.
Grapes grown in the state are cold-climate varieties, but heat allows the grapes to ripen faster, The Bis- marck Tribune reported. The state’s grapes are usually more acidic, but as the grapes ripened this year, the acid dropped and they became sweeter.
“It was actually a great year for grapes,” said Deb Kinzel, of Dickinson-based Fluffy Fields Vineyard & Winery.
Grapes that are used to create wine need to reach a certain sweetness and sugar level called brix, ac- cording to Randy Albrecht, operator of Wolf Creek Winery in Coleharbor. A brix level of 22.5 will make a wine about 12 percent alcohol.
“We generally saw higher brix and lower acid, which makes winemakers smile,” Albrecht said.
“A brix of 22 to 24 is really where we like to see the grapes,” he noted. “If we harvest with less, it pro- duces less alcohol and it’s more acidic.”
The state’s wine industry has been successful and is expected to continue its rapid growth.
The industry expects the industry to grow at a rate of about 200 percent annually through 2020, said RayAnn Kilen, a consultant for the industry. That’s causing some concern that there isn’t enough fruit be- ing commercially grown to meet demands in the future.
Wine makers currently purchase nearly 80 percent of their produce from out of state.
South Dakota man turns ranch into wildlife haven By NICK LOWREY, Capital Journal
FORT PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — John Moisan is a hunter.
That fact becomes apparent when he looks out at the 640 acres of land he owns in Tripp County a few dozen miles south of Presho. Moisan sees the cuts and draws, the cattails and trees not as impediments to farming and cattle but as goldmines for pheasants, grouse and deer. Driving around his property in the back of a friend’s pickup, he points to the grass he’s planted as his proudest achievement, not the rows of sorghum that also thrive on his land.
Hunched over in an elevated box blind, surrounded by the early September sights, sounds and smells of