Demand for corn (from ethanol plants) driving up meat prices

[Kadie]

Demand for corn driving up meat prices
By LIBBY QUAID, AP Food and Farm Writer
5 minutes ago


WASHINGTON - Strong demand for corn from ethanol plants is driving up the cost of livestock and will raise prices for beef, pork and chicken, the Agriculture Department said Friday.

Meat and poultry production will fall as producers face higher feed costs, the department said in its monthly crop report. Ethanol fuel, which is blended with gasoline, is consuming 20 percent of last year's corn crop and is expected to gobble up more than 25 percent of this year's crop.

The price of corn, the main feed for livestock, has driven the cost of feeding chickens up 40 percent, according to the National Chicken Council. The council says that chicken, the most popular meat with consumers, will soon cost more at the grocery store. The industry worries the competition from ethanol could cause a shortage of corn.

The average price of corn, unchanged from last month, is $3.20 a bushel, up from $2 last year.

While chicken producer Tyson Foods Inc. posted its first profitable quarter in a year Jan. 29, executives warned that a dramatic rise in feed costs will raise chicken prices.

more...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070309/ap_on_bi_ge/crop_report_5

[waiting for hope]

1. What ever happened

to the thought of hydrogen power fuel cells? Can't someone direct a bit of energy into developing this technology instead of something else that will drain our natural resources?

[SteveM]

2. It's also blowing out the rain forests.

That's why I am shifting my diet more and more to fish I have caught and game (deer,squirrel,dove, etc.) which I have killed hunting. I keep water consumption down to 1200 gals. a month, too.

[Parisle]

3. Corn shouldn't be necessary

--- I read somewhere that sugar beets distill a higher grade of ethanol, BTU-wise,....

[mopinko]

4. which is why ethanol was shoved down our throats.

thank you archer daniels midland, and danny rostenkowski.

[texastoast]

5. And we don't use hemp for ethanol because . . .

Why?