Posted on 06/24/2007 10:10:56 AM PDT by Dan Evans
LUBBOCK, Texas — Motorists might save a few cents a gallon filling their tanks with ethanol, but they could soon be paying more for a burger and a milkshake as a result.
Demand for corn to make ethanol is soaring and so are the prices, which have more than doubled in the past year. That’s bad news for beef and dairy producers who depend on grain to feed their herds. Many say the cost will be passed on to consumers in the form of higher grocery bills this year.
“There’s a lot of concern among cattle feeders,’’ said Jim Gill, market director for Amarillo-based Texas Cattle Feeders Association. “It’s not a moneymaking proposition right now.’’
Cattle feedyards like the one Kyle Williams manages in Texas, the nation’s leading cattle-producing state, is one of the first stops on the road to higher beef prices.
About a quarter of the 30,000 animals at Lubbock Feeders were bought before corn prices began to soar steadily and the added cost was not factored into the price. Williams knows he’ll lose money when it’s time to sell.
Corn costs went from $4 per 100 pounds last June to about $8.50 per 100 pounds this month, Gill said. Cattle feeders are losing as much as $100 per head because of the higher prices, he said.
By December, corn costs could push the already high beef prices consumers are paying even higher, Gill said.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that the average price for choice beef in May was already the second highest on record at nearly $4.30 per pound, just a couple of pennies under the record set in November 2003.
Cattle feeders and producers are not the only ones complaining about higher corn prices. Dairy farmers also are feeling the pinch.
“As more acres go into corn it takes out other forages,’’ Canton dairy farmer Scott Ortiz said.
Farmers who once grew forage crops like alfalfa, milo or grain sorghum are switching to corn, so there are fewer forage crops to feed dairy cows, said John Cowan, executive director of the Texas Association of Dairymen.
Milk prices are expected to continue climbing because of higher transportation costs and the increased demand for corn.
What could be more insane than a government edict that requires people to burn food crops for fuel? Idiotic.
Supply and demand is o.k. for everyone but farmers, eh?
Soon? Been to a grocery store, say, in the last 6-8 months Ms. Blaney?
http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070624/COL0202/706240357/1023/FEAT05
http://www.countercurrents.org/howden230607.htm
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070624/BUSINESS06/706240589
Another ‘news’ article brought to us by the.....Texas Cattle Feeders Association.
Why are they using food to make fuel?
Too costly per gallon versus alternatives. Politicians are totally out of control, with no reprisals eminent. We shall see.
The public is not demanding ethanol fuels. The government is.
Invest in grain futures.
Some states and the federal government is mandating that we have ethanol in gasoline. The cheapest way to do that is to use corn. Not only has the price of corn risen, but more farm land is being used to grow corn causing the price of other staples to rise.
Invest in POTASH, a critical fertilizer for corn. Supplies are tight and getting tighter, as China, India and Brazil boost demand dramatically, along with the corn growers in the US.
Yeah, right. What a plan. Make a few bucks off the ruination of America.
It’s insane to use food to make fuel. But somebody’s pockets [not mine, anyway] are being lined.
I'd rather buy a rope.
Hub City feedlot ping.
Now, it is the plastic bags and plastic bottles. Remember when the enviornmentalists "socialists" said that using plastic would save the landfills and trees as well.
Now look at what has happened!!!!
I don't put much hope in this govt run by edict to change.....the Pubs and infact the conservative/moderate movement and attitude is in dissaray, not that we can count on the Pubs....but their at least a step better than the Rats....
oh yeah...I forgot....we got the all perfect Mitt to save us...
Too bad we can’t drill for corn.
Potash demand is projected to grow a minimum of 3% annually even without ethanol. Check out PotashCorp.
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