Hi Keith
re:  I'm paying .17 cents per pound for HFCS and .23 cents for 50/50 blend 
delivered.

My suggestion is for us smaller guys.  For those of us who can't take a
tanker load, we don't have the option of having HFCS delivered!  
I know you pride yourself of your sharp pencil, so I've sharpened mine. 
Pick up cost today (in Calif) is 26¢ for ProSweet at 76% solids.  If I
dilute it into 50:50 syrup, that makes it 17¢/lb final cost.  However, I
need to add pick up costs:  gas at $3.00 plus labor time for driving.  Let's
say for filling my 350 gal tank, $50 for gas, wear and tear plus 4 hrs labor
at $25.  That's $150 divided by about 4200 lbs syrup, or another 3.5¢ per
lb.  So syrup to my door, before labor of diluting is about 20¢ per lb for
50:50.   

Granulated sugar cost me 40¢ last I bought it (cheaper at WinMart), so 50:50
syrup costs me 20¢ per pound to make to order.  I also have some trucking
costs to pick up the dry sugar, and a little labor for mixing, so I must say
that you're right--picking up 350 gal of ProSweet would be slightly
cheaper--especially if the price of granulated sugar goes up.  However,
having a pallet of dry sugar in the barn ready to be mixed up into sucrose
syrup to order (no granulation issues) is a point to consider.

BTW, I've been adding a pinch of thymol to a drum of syrup--seems to retard
mold and bacteria growth.

Randy Oliver

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