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Most (emphasis supplied) SANE dairy farmers grow their own corn/ feed crops, so commodity prices don't effect them. Input costs do.

But not all dairy farmers do raise all the feedstock they need so they buy it in a market whose prices are inflated by a government program which burns those feedstocks. Similarly, not all beef producers grow all the feedstocks they need and they too must enter the marketplace to buy increasingly rare feedstocks because much of the feedstocks have been diverted for subsidized biofuels.

Many sane dairy farmers, being sane, find they can make more money by selling their feedstocks for biofuels if they reduce the size of their dairy herds, so they do so thus further driving up the price of milk-and beef

"whose prices are inflated by a government program which burns those feedstocks."

Again, that is a untrue statement. Only the starch is used in ethanol production.

The corn AND byproducts from ethanol production still get used to make feed- with even more vitamins/nutrients.

"Many sane dairy farmers, being sane, find they can make more money by selling their feedstocks for biofuels if they reduce the size of their dairy herds, so they do so thus further driving up the price of milk-and beef"

And that is just pure poppy-cock.

feed corn doesn't fetch #1 grade prices, It's much much less than corn used for human food, which seems to be what liars in the media always quote.

Must be some real stupid dairy farmers in your area. In my area, dairy farmers don't sell off their excess feed until they have their silo's full for the winter.

They know that milk contract is worth far money money than some feed corn, which because feed crops aren't grown as 'clean" as possible to cut costs, they would pay high dockage as well. (dockage is when the elevator deducts grade points for contaminants, weeds other crop seeds, diseases, etc.)

Nice try though.

"Similarly, not all beef producers grow all the feedstocks they need and they too must enter the marketplace to buy increasingly rare feedstocks because much of the feedstocks have been diverted for subsidized biofuels."

Not any I know. Only stock yards (last stop before the slaughterhouse) use a lot of feedstock, which is made from all sorts of "stuff" including the corn used in ethanol production. No matter how many times you say it, it is not true that feedstocks are divirted for biofuels. The corn, rye wheat,barley, etc. used for ethanol production have always been used for making animal feed. We are just making MORE of it now. Actually, feed prices should be going down because of this.

Someone is gouging? Can't be! Not in America! When farmers were getting 10 cents a lb for their beef a year or two ago, why were stores still charging $14 a lb for a prime rib steak?

In the 60's wheat was $14 a bushel. How come flour wasn't even MORE than what this baker is paying? Bread was only 10 cents a loaf back then.

Oh, and those would be 'subsidized feedstocks, wouldn't they? After all, farmers are subsidized to grow that stuff for below actual cost in order to artificially depress commodity prices. Wouldn't it be nice if the government quit robbing taxpayers of those billions of dollars? Then you could afford a loaf of bread.