May 11, 2006: Bright and early, while the dew was still on the cucumbers, we took off for Tifton, Georgia which is about a two hour drive from here. The Experimental Station is rather famous through out the world because they are the folks that hybridized the grasses for golf courses, and made the game quite different from the old fashion kind of common grasses found on courses years ago. Upon arriving at the college, we were struck by the size of the complex. There were numerous buildings spread out over acres of land and test fields of all sorts of things could be seen surrounding the area. There was even a patch of switch grass at the entrance of the college. Needless to say, it was difficult to find Mr. Wilson in all this maze of buildings and activities. Finally, we were directed to one of the more antiqued buildings on campus, a building that housed a great number of state and federal employees. We met Jeffery Wilson,jwilson@tifton.usda.gov, in one of those tiny offices squeezed in between offices for secretaries and other bureaucrats. We explained to him about our interest In growing the millet and we had come for him to advise us about the product. He gave us his business card which said that he was with the USDA. This was the first time we were aware that the USDA had a part in the University of Georgia Experimental Station. He told us that our government had him make several trips yearly to South Africa and India to teach underprivileged people to grow millet as a food product. The big advantage of growing millet is the fact that it is drought tolerant and fairly easy to grow in rather unfertile soil. Because of these facts, peal millet is extremely suitable for growth in most of Georgia. He gave us the name of a seed distributor from whom we could order our seed. After another hour or so of discussion, we decided to go for a bite of lunch. It was at this lunch break that Wilson looked across the table at the two older people facing him and ask the question many people would like to know - Why do you people want to do this???? I explained to him about Mount Everest. Many years ago, when I was a lot younger I heard a story about the guy who climbed Mount Everest. A reported asked the climber why he wanted to climb this mountain. His answer has stuck with me all this time. My answer to Wilson was the same as the mountain climber. "BECAUSE IT IS THERE" And so - why do we want to make ethanol from millet -Because it is there.