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Posted by MoparNorm on Friday, February 22, 2008 at 16:07:40 :
In Reply to: Tripled??? posted by iranch(dennisSD) on Friday, February 22, 2008 at 15:05:13 :
Not a cheap shot at farmers at, many in my family are/were farmers. The dairymen and cattlemen are hurting as their corn based feed is skyrocketing.
I just heard it on the radio this morning and I should have listened more intently, to give you a source...apparently wheat land is being plowed under for corn production, causing increased demand.
Ethanol or bio from non-food sources is not a bad idea, fuel from food is. Corn has indeed doubled from $2 to $4 a bushel
This article talks about a 10 fold increase...
From Fortune Magazine:
"Corn growers themselves wonder whether they're in a bubble. Some joke about "dot-corn," even as true believers preach of a "new plateau" - a refrain reminiscent of late '90s "new paradigm" talk. But if there's one thing everyone in corn country agrees on, it's this: 2007's crop should be a moneymaker of historic proportions.
The returns on last year's crop were good but not great- much of the harvest was sold well before corn hit $4- but 2007 is shaping up to be a most extraordinary year for Midwest corn growers. According to United Agtech, a Martin County crop consultant, local growers stand to net around $270 for every acre of corn they grow this year- ten times the profit they were realizing just three years ago. (That assumes an average yield of 180 bushels an acre and price of $3.50 a bushel.)
Put a little differently, the farmer who was making $27,000 raising 1,000 acres of corn in 2004 is in a position to earn $270,000 from 2007's crop. Of course, this requires some cooperation from Mother Nature, which, as farmers are quick to point out, is never a sure thing. Nationwide, corn growers' total profits from the 2007 crop could top $13 billion, a tally already rippling through the farm economy."
That, is the farmers income, before the refiners and producers get their hands on it, mark it up and sell the ethanol.
My point was not the farmers meager profit, it's the cost to society. It takes more power (BTU's) to produce ethanol than ethanol produces. For those thinking that they are saving money or conserving or lowering our consumption of fuel, it's a cruel hoax.
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