It’s another government dislocation in the market.
The acres devoted to corn had been trending down for decades before the ethanol boom. Corn devoted to ethanol is grown to meet the demand. With ethanol less profitable now, corn acres will trend down again.
Without ethanol subsidizing animal feed, corn production would dramatically decrease and become more expensive, but not before a lot of less-nimble producers get forced out altogether. Likely we would end up importing animal feed from China instead of exporting it.
The ethanol thing sure turned South.
I think they’re trying to bump content again. Maybe not. I don’t follow it real close.
At any rate, the whims of the government have big impact.