wait a minute ... Bush cites the use of corn for ethanol for the rise of prices ...

[zbdent]

but, when you consider that the corn (along with everything else) has gone up due to the price of oil ...

circular logic ... like the flushing of a toilet ...

[hobbit709]

1. And corn went up after the SOTU last year

when he said we needed more alternative fuels.

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

2. Correct me on this, but that special corn he is talking about cannot be

eaten, or fed to livestock, right?

[yellowcanine]

3. Residuals from corn used for ethanol can be fed to livestock, And the corn is the same corn fed to

livestock or used to make corn meal, corn chips, tortillas, whatever.

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

6. Thanks

[crikkett]

8. Are you saying "corn-fed beef" is actually fed the industrial byproduct of ethanol production?

That is just not appetizing.

Before you people stomp on me consider: have you ever made a soup stock from bones for from vegetables? You boil everything you can OUT of the stuff and then toss the byproduct away (to the compost/trash/whatever.) There's nothing of nutritional value left.

[yellowcanine]

10. Not necessarily and it is not comparable to making meat stock.

Processing corn to produce ethanol can actually result in a residual that has higher feeding value than corn itself.  The reason for this is likely that with raw  corn a lot of the feeding value is wasted because of poor digestibility.  The ethanol process seems to produce a residual with greater digestibility than the raw corn.http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/ansci/beef/as1242w.htm

By "not necessarily" I mean that most corn fed cattle are fed regular corn, not ethanol byproduct corn.

[crikkett]

16. thanks for the info. I still think it's time to start looking at buying shares in cows...

at least you have a more direct relationship with your food producer and that's actually a healthier and more balanced way to live anyway.

[crikkett]

7. if it's genetically modified corn then it's not fit for human consumption

and I can't recall whether it's allowed to be used as animal feed.

Corn is such a stupid way to grow fuel. For one thing it requires too much water.

There was a corn recall announced 2 days ago, by the way.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=2926536

[yellowcanine]

11. Where did you get that? Do you have a link?

[crikkett]

15. GM corn being not fit for consumption, I read in a library book c.2001

and the story to the recalled corn was linked in my other post.

A few (tens of ) minutes at google indicates that in New Zealand a GM corn was approved for human consumption last march.

The last time I was up on this (5 yrs ago) the wise shopper only bought white corn products because yellow GM corn for animal feed was being mixed into supplies sold to humans (via uncontrollable pollen drift and via sloppy storage methods). In one spectacular case, StarLink Corn in Taco Bell brand shells caused serious allergic reactions in people.

[NickB79]

13. No, it can be fed to livestock

My father grows corn, and the local ethanol co-op AND the local feed processors both purchase his crop.

[Jim__]

4. The Iraq War and the price of oil have nothing to do with it.

It's all the fault of the environmentalists.

[yellowcanine]

5. Only part of the rise is a result of ethanol production. Export demand is also driving up the price

of all grains, including corn. Wheat prices, for example, have increased more than corn.

[edhopper]

9. Yes it's true.

At the urging of Bush, Congress gave subsidies to corn ethanol producers. More land was used to grow this corn. Less land was used for food crops. The cost goes up.
Did he mention how much he pushed for ethanol?

[Kat45]

14. I wonder how much ADM contributed to bush's campaign. n/t

[AnneD]

18. ADM is to Ag...

like Carlyle is to Investment groups

[gravity]

12. We are using food for energy

Which decreases the amount of food that we can use for actual food. This drives up the price of corn and other grains. This is just basic economics.

Since we use corn to feed our livestock, the price of meat and milk has increased too.

Our ethanol policy right now is a disaster. We are subsidizing the increase in food prices for an energy source with marginal net benefits, it any.

[crikkett]

17. Gawdamned everything is a disaster. What's not a disaster these days?