Heated corn prices threaten chill for consumers

Len Corzine zipped up the hooded sweat shirt a John Deere dealer gave him hours earlier, before heading out to survey a plot of land he farms.

[Tic]

Please feel free to contact senator Durbin to think him for higher food prices and his support of Ethanol

[fthefarmer]

The ethanol boom is just a diversion to any meaningful solution to our energy crisis. We are wasting our time on this hopeless fuel. The farmer is the welfare mom of this decade and in my opinion have no interest in helping America only in helping themselves. If I were you I would write and call the filthy congress for that blatant disregard for Americans with their signing of the new energy bill.

[PE Cohen]

It is said that every two economists have five different opinions on every question. Economics is a complicated subject and I don't pretend to understand the economics of corn, but I can offer some observations.

1. The ethanol boom is not the only thing that could be affecting the price of corn. There is also the free trade movement that has opened up much of the world market to U.S. corn growers. There is evidence that at least some of the immigration from Mexico is due to former corn farmers in Mexico being unable to compete with subsidized corn from the U.S. Also there is an increasing demand for corn to use as a pellet fuel.

2. Cattle are not natural consumers of corn and in fact it makes them sick. Because they are fed corn they must also be given antibiotics that then enters our food supply and in turn helps the development of diseases that are resistant to those antibiotics. In this respect, possibly a rise in corn prices might lead to less corn being fed to cattle and consequently a more healthy beef.

3. If an increase in corn prices could lead to less high-fructose corn syrup in our prepared foods, that would probably result in a decrease in obesity and diabetes.

It seems quite possible that an increase in corn prices could be a good thing for Americans generally, not just for farmers. It could even be a good thing for Mexico if corn prices rose enough for their farmers to return to the land.

[Allen]

It seems to me that anything we do to get away from OPEC is a good thing. Maybe someday we will leave the middle east and all those nuts over there to starve.

[Common Sense]

The prices farmers are getting for cattle are not high. Farmers have absolutely no control over the price they recieve for a commodity. Why are the prices consumers pay for beef at record highs?
The link between corn price and cost of food seems to exist only in the minds of the media. It is interesting to me that food prices increase exponentially every year, even when corn prices are at record lows, as they have been for many consecutive previous years.

[jack eich]

ethanol is a loser proposition! Too much petrochemicals used to plant corn! No crop rotation insures the destruction of soil quickly. chemicals for insecticides and herbacides are making the air in rural areas unfit to breath during the summer. I live in farm country and grew up on a farm. It used to be desireable to live rural but now you cant breath anymore during planting. Should plant hemp instead,fertilizer,no petrochemicals ,no soil loss either. canada does well with hemp averaging 400 to 600 dollars per acre!

[jack eich]

ethanol is a joke,uses more petro products than it gives back. If hemp was planted it would be cost effective,but not corn. The soil will suffer from erosion and chemical pollution. they are already cutting down trees everywhere you look. I live in farm country and see bad things happening! BIG MISTAKE!!!

fthefarmer wrote:

The ethanol boom is just a diversion to any meaningful solution to our energy crisis. We are wasting our time on this hopeless fuel. The farmer is the welfare mom of this decade and in my opinion have no interest in helping America only in helping themselves. If I were you I would write and call the filthy congress for that blatant disregard for Americans with their signing of the new energy bill.

[jack eich]

Hemp is the plant that would give us renewable energy without destroying the environment and polluting the air and soil.

[Tricia DC]

I think the ethanol craze is at its end. What a waste of dollars. I am so glad I didn't invest in it. I plan to invest in solar power.

[Ray Will County]

The article missed a major point, which is the amount of corn shipped to China for ethanol use. There is a major intermodal facility in Elwood, Illinois operated by Burlington Northern. It has hundreds of containers of corn a day trucked in for rail transfer to the West coast, and ultimately shipment to China. The trucks are coming in from all over the Midwest.

[reza santorini]

Of course the prices for ethanol went up....so has the price of food, even before gas went up. Good grief, it is our economy and the system..supply and demand. We all are paying more for things.

Assumption, is that in Christian County? That whole area is depressed but doesn't think a Republican has anything to do with it. EVER.

[reza santorini]

Tic wrote:

Please feel free to contact senator Durbin to think him for higher food prices and his support of Ethanol

No, I will thank him for giving the people a choice and farmers have chosen Ethanol.

[Adam]

"Cattle are not natural consumers of corn and in fact it makes them sick. Because they are fed corn they must also be given antibiotics that then enters our food supply and in turn helps the development of diseases that are resistant to those antibiotics. In this respect, possibly a rise in corn prices might lead to less corn being fed to cattle and consequently a more healthy beef."

I highly doubt your logic. I would like to see evidence that corn is the cause for bovine illnesses requiring antibiotic treatment. I have been feeding cattle for 30 years. Over the past decade, I have drastically reduced the corn I feed to cattle. It would be a stretch to say they are healthier due to the change.

[PE Cohen]

Adam wrote:

I would like to see evidence that corn is the cause for bovine illnesses requiring antibiotic treatment. I have been feeding cattle for 30 years. Over the past decade, I have drastically reduced the corn I feed to cattle. It would be a stretch to say they are healthier due to the change.

Unlike you, I have no personal experience or financial interest in raising cattle, so I am only repeating what I have read. You can take a look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grass_fed_beef and at http://preventdisease.com/home/tips24.shtml to find some similar opinions.