Farmers are concerned with how much corn will be produced for livestock. One of the largest swine producers is expressing concern over the potential impact of grain ethanol production on feed and food supplies.
“If you put corn in your tank through ethanol, it’s not available for you to eat and sustain yourself….”
Big Sky Farms CEO Florian Possberg suggests it’s great to have fuel in the car to make it run, but if we get to the point where it’s a choice between putting it in your tank and having something to eat, it’s going to be interesting times.
Iowa has exported roughly 40 percent of their corn crop, but by 2008 they could be a net importer.
Over 100 US mid-west ethanol plants are in business or about to begin business.
Annual ethanol production by 2012 may reach 7.5 billion gallons
“If American corn production increases by an average of 15 bushels per acre per year, with the additional ethanol plants coming on stream within the next five or ten years, the United States could be short of corn for internal purposes, much less exports, so it’s a pretty simple issue.”
“…government policy needs to keep in mind that, yeah, it’s important that we have fuel. It’s also important that we have the grain stocks to feed our population, so it needs to be in proper balance.”