"Norman D. Crow" wrote:
....

I don't know about the gas being colored, but I do know that in the early
'50s, farmers got a tax break on gasoline for "farm" use, and you could get
your farm tank filled by Agway, but you were NOT supposed to use it in your
auto, motorcycle, etc. I don't know as there was any actual telltale
connected with it, but I know Uncle never put it in any car, except maybe a
couple gallons in an emergency if someone didn't put gas in while in town,
and it might not make it to town.

Same system still in effect in all ag areas afaik.

Colored fuels came into being at least by the mid-50's (here in KS,
anyway). I'm not old enough to know prior to then just how far back it
actually goes. Multiple purposes--product indentification plus as in
the above example tax purposes. Farm diesel is still colered
differently from truck/pump/highway diesel as it is not subject to road
taxes (and, depending on local jurisdiction, perhaps other fees/taxes as
well). To best of my knowledge, there's so little farm gasoline these
days there is no off-road available (certainly not here, anyway). For
the old tractors and trucks, we buy pump gas, keep records of what is
off-road (local Co-op has key pumps so we have separate farm/non-farm
keys) and deduct the tax off the taxes when file.

One doson't want to be caught by the weigh station guys w/ long
haul/non-farm use farm diesel! They're pretty serious about
enforcement...