[domenad]

Switchgrass is better and it grows with far less water and care than corn. I also understand that farmers don’t like it because by pushing corn, the price of corn gets pushed up due to competition between corn as a food product and energy source. Maybe farmers need to work on a per-BTU pricing structure.

[Pablo64]

Exactly. The corn farmers are loving not only the usual government farm subsidies, but the increased price per bushel of corn has them all excited. There has even been concern that too many farmers are giving up planting other crops (such as soybeans) to plant corn because the money is so good.

From just my own personal observations I would say this is true. I cover quite a bit of area for my job (most of it rural farm country) here in Nebraska, and I am seeing fewer and fewer fields of soybeans and more corn. Some farmers that previously rotated between the two each year, are sticking with corn since the prices are so high. The big problem with this is that corn sucks the nutrients out of the ground so much, that if you don't rotate and give the ground a "rest" then you will have to augment with more and more fertilizer (especially nitrogen).

[Vaduz]

True it takes 22 pounds of corn to make one gal. of gas not a good cost ratio plus it takes two gal. of ethanpl to do what one gal. of gas can do E85 is a waste of time and money.

[thackney]

also understand that farmers don’t like it because by pushing corn

More important to today's farmer is there is no market today to buy it.

From the article:
there are no biorefineries built that handle cellulosic material...