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Demand for corn driving up meat prices
AP via Yahoo! News ^ | 3/9/07 | LIBBY QUAID

Posted on 03/09/2007 8:44:20 AM PST by libertarianPA

WASHINGTON - Strong demand for corn from ethanol plants is driving up the cost of livestock and will raise prices for beef, pork and chicken, the Agriculture Department said Friday.

Meat and poultry production will fall as producers face higher feed costs, the department said in its monthly crop report. Ethanol fuel, which is blended with gasoline, is consuming 20 percent of last year's corn crop and is expected to gobble up more than 25 percent of this year's crop.

The price of corn, the main feed for livestock, has driven the cost of feeding chickens up 40 percent, according to the National Chicken Council. The council says that chicken, the most popular meat with consumers, will soon cost more at the grocery store. The industry worries the competition from ethanol could cause a shortage of corn.

The average price of corn, unchanged from last month, is $3.20 a bushel, up from $2 last year.

For soybeans, analysts said prices are averaging $6.30 a bushel, up from last month's average of $6.20. Last year's price was $5.66. Wheat prices are averaging $4.25 a bushel, unchanged from last month and up from $3.42 last year.

Also in the crop report, the department updated the citrus forecast to include the effects of a January freeze on California oranges. The California crop will be 39 percent smaller than last year, and combined with freezes that are expected to reduce the Florida crop, the nation's crop is expected to be 18 percent smaller than last season.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: boondoggle; consequences; energy; ethanol; meatprices; unintended
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We're just beginning to see how the demands of the left are making life more expensive for the rest of us. Of course, the left will say, "Well, just eat more vegetables." Good plan. Since most of the fertilizer we use to grow our vegetables are petroleum based and you a-holes won't let us drill on our own land, that will really help relieve our dependence on foreign oil, won't it?
1 posted on 03/09/2007 8:44:21 AM PST by libertarianPA
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To: libertarianPA

Imagine that--you burn your food and food prices go up.


2 posted on 03/09/2007 8:45:36 AM PST by randog (What the...?!)
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To: libertarianPA

The average price of corn, unchanged from last month, is $3.20 a bushel, up from $2 last year.
-----
HA! Did we not call this one? When the greenies started talking ethanol, we saw it coming. CORN SHORTAGE!!! Raise prices. So, now, how many bushels of corn does it take to produce 1 gallon of ethanol ??? That should be revealing.


3 posted on 03/09/2007 8:46:41 AM PST by EagleUSA
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To: libertarianPA

No argument here.


4 posted on 03/09/2007 8:46:42 AM PST by kinoxi
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To: libertarianPA

Time to stop paying farmers to not grow things and maybe, just maybe, they will start to grow more corn.


5 posted on 03/09/2007 8:47:03 AM PST by 5thGenTexan
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To: libertarianPA
PETA is already pushing the idea that vegetarianism will solve global warming and has called for Algore to declare himself "meatless". So far, I haven't heard anything form Mr. Gore.
6 posted on 03/09/2007 8:49:15 AM PST by oyez ( In politics, perception is reality.)
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To: libertarianPA

Even though the ethanol true believers were told
1. We'd end up having to import ethanol because we couldn't produce enough to meet the mandates
2. Prices of other goods would go up because of demand for ethanol raw materials
we were told we were ignorant and nothing bad would happen. Now bush is in brazil and we're going to start importing more ethanol from them because the US can't meet demand. And the costs of other goods are going up.

Next, prices of land go up as more land is put back to agriculture use. But I've been assured that won't happen!


7 posted on 03/09/2007 8:50:03 AM PST by flashbunny (<--- Free Anti-Rino graphics! See Rudy the Rino get exposed as a liberal with his own words!)
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To: 5thGenTexan
"We do have confidence in the marketplace's ability to react," Conner said. "We believe producers are seeing the market saying, `I need more corn, not only for ethanol, but for our feed needs in this country.'"

Looks like they will do that very thing.
8 posted on 03/09/2007 8:50:05 AM PST by P-40 (Al Qaeda was working in Iraq. They were just undocumented.)
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To: EagleUSA

The rioting in Mexico and Latin America over corn prices is due to the corn shortage.


9 posted on 03/09/2007 8:50:18 AM PST by edcoil (Reality doesn't say much - doesn't need too)
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To: flashbunny

That newly liberalized eminent domain ruling will come in handy now.


10 posted on 03/09/2007 8:52:11 AM PST by JZelle
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To: EagleUSA

The Pres signed the agreement with Brazil for ethanol today and the rain forest friends of the Amazon are already soliciting funds to stop this insanity.


11 posted on 03/09/2007 8:53:55 AM PST by RightWhale (300 miles north of Big Wild Life)
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To: Keith in Iowa

pingaroo!......


12 posted on 03/09/2007 8:58:14 AM PST by Red Badger (Britney Spears shaved her head............Well, that's one way of getting rid of headlice.........)
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To: libertarianPA
George Bush has a Rendezvous with Density
13 posted on 03/09/2007 8:58:44 AM PST by SpaceBar
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To: randog

The old question was "Guns or butter?"
The new question is "Food or fuel?"............


14 posted on 03/09/2007 8:59:57 AM PST by Red Badger (Britney Spears shaved her head............Well, that's one way of getting rid of headlice.........)
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To: SpaceBar

the writer is a twit
but the Republicans did spend money like Democrats
and have been punished for it at the ballot box


15 posted on 03/09/2007 9:00:55 AM PST by nascarnation
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To: oyez

AlGore declaring himself "meatless" is like Rosie O'Donuts declaring herself fat free..........


16 posted on 03/09/2007 9:01:08 AM PST by Red Badger (Britney Spears shaved her head............Well, that's one way of getting rid of headlice.........)
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To: libertarianPA
The whole ethanol thing is great! Look at the benefits:

1) Ethanol is more expensive than gas, so adding ethanol to your fuel drives up the cost of your fuel.
2) Ethanol decreases your gas mileage, so you burn more of the more expensive fuel.
3) High demand raises the price of both corn and beef, so now your food bills go up too.

Ethanol is just a great, great idea.

17 posted on 03/09/2007 9:01:33 AM PST by ClearCase_guy (Enoch Powell was right.)
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To: EagleUSA
The average price of corn, unchanged from last month, is $3.20 a bushel, up from $2 last year.

Right now, March corn futures are $4.09 per bushel.


18 posted on 03/09/2007 9:05:19 AM PST by Minn
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To: libertarianPA

Follow the Archer-Daniels-Midland campaign contributions ...


19 posted on 03/09/2007 9:07:27 AM PST by Tax-chick (Free Republic, "Where a few remnant curios bite.")
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To: libertarianPA

ping


20 posted on 03/09/2007 9:08:25 AM PST by GourmetDan (Demokrat Amerika - The Land of the Flee and the Home of the Blame)
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