Corn is just not food another good point

[kraft-t]

I don't know that I am advocating more government but I do think we should pay for the government that we have. The concept that we can cut taxes and balance the budget is nonsense. I beleive it has been a concerted effort to starve the budget into compliance with the right wing philosophy.

Have you noticed all the chatter about sending and debts and deficits. For 8 years those folks weren't to concerned about debt or deficits. But put a democrat in the white house be it Obama or Clinton

and like clockwork the repubs become aware of fiscal problems. First they demand a continuation of the tax cuts for the rich and then want seniors and the sick to suffer through stringent budget cuts that harm the aged and the sick.

I favor single payer health care because it will save us all money including the government.

[kraft-t]

I don't get that. Who is telling who that the first 3.5 to 4 billion bushels must go to ethanol? As far as I know feed consumers can compete with ethanol production at anytime. I'll sell you my corn as l;ong as you pay more and I suspect most producers would. Don't you think your problem is that corn is costing you too much. And you want to blame ethanol for it..

[kraft-t]

So all the people on public assistance are drugheads with their brains fried or they are just plain lazy no accounts? There are millions unemployed. Not because they quit but because the financial market threw the economy into the ditch and their jobs disappeared.

These are folks that showed up for work and did the tasks they were hired to do. They lost their jobs and you hold them in disdain because you have some notion that you or your kids are immune from such circumstances. Welfare recipeints are not all dead beats and you shouldn't haul out that version every time that welfare is discussed.

You ought to consider yourself blessed with your circumstances as am I. But for the grace of God we to could share the economic misery as many good people are. Haven't you got any compassion for anybody other than your own? You don't know the details of the folks in crisis and you should assume the worst of every body.

[Blacksandfarmer]

JR, even if ethanol was eliminated, corn prices would still be high. The weak value of the dollar probably has more to do with high grain prices than ethanol. If you didn't have a picture with your profile some may wonder if you were a "rabid" ethanol hater haha. US corn is still cheap in places like China where they will continue to buy. This past year we have seen a domino effect of weather-related price spikes that may not be seen again for a while. I think people are jumping the gun a bit with the idea of killing ethanol. The elimination of ethanol would hurt rural communities that depend on that ethanol plant for a job. I don't believe in expanding corn-based ethanol beyond its current consumption. The idea livestock groups have of crushing ethanol in order to have cheaper inputs is ridiculous. It would be like row crop groups trying to make fertilizer manufacturers only produce fertilizer for farm use instead of marketing their fertilizer to people with lawns and gardens in order to make that fertilizer more abundant and in turn "cheaper". If ethanol was eliminated, the price of corn and beans would fall slightly, but you know as much as I do grain farmers don't have to plant as much corn and beans as they are now. Guys in this area farm with a lot of irrigation. If corn prices fall, that irrigated corn ground would turn into irrigated potato, tomato or green pepper ground.. Or better yet CRP. I hope milk prices stay on the rise for you JR as they have been the last few days and lets keep that parlor pit thawing, no more frozen parlor pit.

[jrsiajdranch]

Krat it is called a "mandate" . THe government says that they must have x million gallons of bio fuels in the blend of gasoline. That is regardless of price or supply it is gauraunteed that there will be at least 3.5 billion bu. of ethol used in the united states forour own fue at current levels of usage. So in a short cropear they get to be first to he tough astheadate to use so muchiofuels. I they do not there are stffif penalties. So I ay they must e first to te trough they get first "dibbs" .

[jrsiajdranch]

Black Sand said"The idea livestock groups have of crushing ethanol in order to have cheaper inputs is ridiculous. "  Really? So I shouldn't shop for the lowest price of other inputs?  In doing that I am affectvly saying I am wanting my cost of production lower. If I can lower my price by eliminating competition well good for me.  THis is business. I do not want any sympothy for my cows or my farm. If I can't compete well I can't compete. All I want is fair competition. and right now I do not have that.

I use corn but I do not get a "corn use credit" nor do I have the full force of the law mandating that every merican purchase so many gallons of milk or it's equivalent in other dairy products if it is a fair fight I am all for it and IF I lose fine. But if every other end user gets to lap me three times bfore I can start well I am gonna start playing diry. 

AS to the rabid pic of this michigander maybe I should put up a pic of that Uof M mascot with it's teeth barred!  BUt I just can't gett my sparty heart to do that! HE HE

[GoredHusker]

How much oil do we get from the likes of Japan and South Korea?  How much does it cost for our presence there?  The biggest share of our oil comes from Mexico and Canada.  How many military bases do we have there?  What is our military presence there?

Purdue University did a study that concluded roughly 99% of the blenders credit ends up in the ethanol plants hands.  Saying they don't pay us for the corn compares to saying LDP's, CC payments, etc. don't end up in the hands of Cargill, Terra, Monsanto, etc.

Cattle and cattle producers were here long before corn was produced in mass quantities.  Years ago, cattle were fattened on grass.  As a crop producer, do you really want to find out what happens when we go back to fattening cattle on grass?  Considering the direction we're headed towards with regards to energy policy, I'd think crop producers would want to play extremely nice with livestock producers.  By the time we put millions of electric cars on the road combined with trucks and such running on natural gas, it doesn't exactly paint a rosey picture for ethanol.  China doesn't make many blunders, and they're betting bigtime on natural gas especially here in the U.S.

[Jim Meade / Iowa City]

Lots of snippy new subject lines.  Do we need to get snippy with each other?  Farm Business is going the way of AgForum with little personal potshots.

Then we end up with only a few die hards jawing at each other while everyone else looks for a different place to post.

[GoredHusker]

Actually, I think it is a little more complex than just ethanol.  Right now, there are various groups claiming one of three things is causing food riots and such Worldwide.  The first one thrown out there is Bernanke and the Fed policy via quantitative easing which has deflated the dollar.  The second one thrown out there is overspeculating in commodities.  The third one is the U.S. ethanol policy.  In all reality, it's more than likely a combination of the three.  I've heard some of the biggest ethanol supporters around here saying we need to shut off all exports of corn.  I don't think they have a clue what that would do to corn prices.  

Basically, it matters very little whether it's a combination of the three or just one of the three as being the main reason food prices are escalating.  What does matter is that no matter which one it is, the U.S. is going to see a lot of political pressure from the rest of the World.  If the U.S. changes the Fed policy, changes the speculation in commodities, or changes the ethanol policy; the end result will be the same with falling commodity prices.  While $2.00 corn won't work for the corn farmer, $60.00 fat cattle won't work for the cattle producer.  All the commodities will fall in tandem.  At the end of the day, everyone in agriculture must get one thing straight.  We make up less than one percent of the population.  In order to keep the masses happy, we more than likely become the sacrificial lamb in all of this.   

[jrsiajdranch]

Very good post couldn't agree more!