The george morris center is on the bandwagon again about how immoral ethanol production is and how badly the government has screwed up the food production industry by subsidizing ethanol. I have some simple questions for them. Where is the U.S. government now compared to then in relation to the total amount of money spent on ag subsidies? The reality is that before ethanol the government was spending billions in loan deficiency payments because grain production was not a viable long term industry. This system created an artifically low value to grain which in fact was a subsidy to livestock production. So while I can empathize with struggling livestock producers because of high grain prices, we have a better system today because we have a better balance between supply and demand. I also have a bone to pick with comments the center made that the retail sector is doing a good job currently in buffering high food prices from consumers. The retail sector has a history of padding their margins when it becomes easy to blame farmers for rising food prices. Raw ingredients rise ten cents, retail rises a dollar. Reality is this. Farmers are all prepared to do their part in feeding the world. Just don't expect us to go bankrupt doing it.
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Ethanol production steals food from the mouths of babies. If they have got more food than they need then no problem. If not... I can't blame grain growers for cheering on such a gift but don't pretend its justifiable. HT
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The Gift Happytrails is the luxary you have is the ability to go to the grocery store and buy a cheap loaf of bread at the producers expense. When you buy that cheap bread do you ever say man am I fortunate I live here?
How do you know that I as a producer dont donate a significant amount of my net sales to charities that will help the people that really need it.
Is it morally right for Potash to cost $600 per tonne or Nitrogen to cost $550 a tonne? Is it Morally right that my farm burns through $55,000 worth of diesel fuel every year?
So please don't question the morality of someone you dont know. Why is the best answer for starving kids cheap food at 1% of the populations expense? When 100% of us could chip in a make a much more significant impact even with higher priced food.
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Happytrails,
In a 3rd world developing country... where 70% folks plus are dependant on growing food products for a living... Have you ever thought about cutting the price of grain in half... and what it does to them (breaks/bankrupts their farm and business)?
If the price of grain doubles... so does their income... unless there is a major crop failure where they are.
Just like us Canadians.
So HT; what are you trying to tell us?
When the price of wheat and rice double... it is a very good thing... ESPECIALLY when this price was 60% of the cost of production... topped up by subsidies the subsitance farms did not get! NOW they (3rd world farmers) can farm and make a living!
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yes it is always the farmer that gets the blame for hunger. Why don't non farmers that can afford it, give up their dvds, bigscreen tvs, country club memberships sell them and give that money to all those hungry. We will produce the food they will buy, but as was mentioned above not at a price where we are working for nothing or less, which the morris centre has shown by fact we do more often than not. It's the rest of society that is not doing their share for world hunger.
the real problem is the exploitation of the poorer people by governments and some corporations that have them work for slave wages. But then again we all have been brainwashed into enjoying those cheaply produced products bought at big box stores, that are made in third world countries, without thinking of at who's expense did they get there that cheap.
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right on Tom
we are talking about food here and what else in this world is cents / pound.
a 100 % rise in wheat prices is 10 cents a lb. or about 4 cents a loaf of bread.
if a farmer in Canada , with 2 thousand acres , mechanized with good
infrastructure can not make it at 4$
wheat , then how does the third world
make it with 2 acres and an ox.
How bad must it be on those farms
that working for 1$ /hr. or less and living in a slum is a step up.
not to worry , 1 or 2 good world crops,
prices fall and farmers will again, look off farm for income
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aside from the moral issues ethanol from grains is a failure environmentally, economically and on an energy in energy out basis. the usa is so screwed financially that the mandate will go within the next couple of years. adm will keep it alive as long as they can.
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jensend,
Think about it...
250/ac corn... is a solar collector... in a soybean rotation is running on N from the air from the beans for a good chunk of that yield.
Soybeans... at 60-80bu/ac... fix their own N.
Your calculator needs to have a genetic alteration!
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tom the corn would be a big solar collector if it went for food too. read some independent assessments of the energy in/energy out balance and then ask yourself why it is so heavily subsidized. in europe as they withdrew subsidies for biofuels the plants were dismantled and shipped to other countries for them to try. your calculator just says if tom makes money it doesn't matter who pays.
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Jensend...
A big portion of DDG's and biodiesel DOES end up in food! It is livestock feed and soymeal... which anyone who was actually hungry... could eat... and survive very well on!
We humans do not need to eat meat... to survive!!!! Much of the worlds population will not even eat pork of cows!
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