In article ,
Ann wrote:

Charlie expounded:

Full article at:

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/05/27/1485/

Battle for Biofuels Drives World Food Prices Higher

America’s thirst for environmentally friendly biofuels
is driving up food prices around the world as farmers
scramble to devote more land to corn.


Is the US government still paying farmers to *not* grow crops?

Charlie,
It appears that the "New Deal" for farmers was laid to rest in the 70s
after it had been whittled at for a generation. The original deal was
where the government would loan the farmer money to hold the crop off
the market until prices went higher. If they didn't go higher, the
government kept the crop and they called it even. The reasoning being
that it was in the nations interest to lay away food for bad time and to
support the farmers who grew it. In the 1970s the above got changed to
price supports. The government decided what a fair price was and paid
the farmer the difference. Thing is as the government determined price
has dropped, farmers raise more to cover expenses, causing in turn a
lowering if price supports. By now the farmer gets about 4 cents to the
dollar for their crop, uh, commodity.

The main benefactors of the commodity price collapse for corn is Archer
Daniel Midlands and, Cargill.

The price collapse realy started in the 50s with the introduction of
chemical fertilizers. Previously, farmers had used crop rotation and
manure to invigorate their land. Now there is no need for crop rotation,
meaning more corn and lower prices.

According to Michael Pollard's book,"Omnivore's Delimma"
http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/r...1_pollan.shtml
it takes a little over 1 petroleum calorie to produce 1 calorie of
edible corn (pg. 46, 1st paragraph). There is the possibility of using
the entire plant by converting the cellulose back to sugar but I don't
know what energy investment that would entail.

Funny thing though, before using crop rotation and farm manure, you got
2 food calories out for everyone put in and the environment was a hell
of a lot healthier.

How you making out with your clay?

- Bill
Coloribus gustibus non disputatum (mostly)

P.S. Jan I wish I had known that this book was continuation from
Pollard's previous book, "The Botany of Desire". Damn, this is turning
into a serious amount of summer reading.