What is being done NOW bears no resemblance to honesty and sensibility in economics, and DOES contribute to higher food prices. I will grant that other factors have contributed, too, but the moronic drive to burn corn is a very significant factor in higher food prices worldwide, and now, deaths worldwide.
Bright side: at four bucks a gallon, somebody's gonna introduce a whole new way to get your wagon down the road. I'm going long on hay.
If the despots of the world cannot provide for their people without "free" food courtesy of the American farmer and taxpayers, I simply do not know what to say. You do realize that the farm "subsidies" were always about that, I hope. Cheap food for you; free food for our politicians to distribute. We still have corn, wheat, rice, and soybeans for sale...they can buy them if they want.
We, like any other business, made new markets for ourselves. If you think it is just biofuels, you are sadly mistaken.
You should be VERY happy about that; the free market and all. I certainly hope that you are not going to make the ridiculous argument that we have some obligation to "feed the world" at the expense of our well-being. We will be more than happy to go back to doing that, if you provide a profit margin that is commensurate with our expertise and risks. That hasn't been the case in a couple of decades...so here we are. I know that the WSJ types like slave labor that can easily be ordered around; we don't fit the mold...sorry. I also find it highly amusing that the same people that simply love outsourcing to CHINA, that bastion of human rights (LOL), are suddenly concerned about worldwide starvation.
In any event, we, in the "new" ag business will soon come up with corn and soybeans that have higher yields to fill all of these needs....that has pretty much always been the plan.
Had the dollar not dropped precipitously, and the price of oil (subsequently) skyrocketed, we would have had the few years that we will need to accommodate increased usage. We had no control over that part of the equation.
And, make NO mistake, that is the major factor in the higher grain prices. We need diesel to plant, fertilizer is comprised of petroleum products, every level of the food chain has transportation and energy costs. That is the main culprit, here.
The prices are reflecting the increased production costs for 2008; it may just get worse if oil continues to rise.
Thats nothing but pure BS. If you think everyone lives on animal feed corn, you are truely one of the fooled.
There is no food shortage.
Even in turd world countries, their food problems are political, not because the world can't produce enough.
Food price increases are NOT a result of bio fuels production.
Human grade food isn't even used in bio fuel production.
The cost of food is driven up by the price of oil, which effects production costs, transportation costs, labor costs, and delivery costs to the grocer. Fertilizer costs which have tripled for farmers this crop year, not to mention there being a severe shortage, as have machinery and other costs.