There seems to be no end to the rhetoric bouncing around between agricultural experts, critics and media about what’s driving food costs. Biofuels are still one of the most common scapegoats for why we’re paying more for our food than ever before. But the Farm Foundation wants to get to the root of it all. That’s why it sought out three academics from Purdue University to research more than a dozen studies and determine the “truth” behind what the organization calls “one of the most important issues facing agriculture today.” The Farm Foundation hopes the findings of their report will offer policy makers an objective source to refer to when facing the challenges of today’s food system.
Wally Tyner is one of the professors who was a part of the three-man team that conducted the study. The agricultural economics guru says his team found three major driving factors in high food prices:
“The first is global trends in production and consumption of agricultural commodities. The second is has to do with sort of macro economic factors, the depreciation of the dollar. And the third has to do with biofuels. And these are linked in some ways but in some ways its like a perfect storm of all these things coming together at the same time that has led to the huge run-up in prices.”
In this DomesticFuel Cast, we hear from Neal Conklin, President of Farm Foundation and Wally Tyner, Professor of Agricultural Economics at Purdue University. Here is the Domestic Fuel Cast #7:
[audio:http://www.zimmcomm.biz/domesticfuel/df-podcast-07.mp3]
You can also subscribe to the DomesticFuel Cast using the following url/feed link: http://www.zimmcomm.biz/domesticfuel/domestic-fuel-cast.xml.
U.S. government officials are following up on the success of last March’s Washington International Renewable Energy Conference (WIREC 2008) with a report of that three-day conference.
The summit brings together hundreds of industry leaders in agriculture, petroleum, academia, financial institutions and the government who want to make Florida a leader in the production of renewable energy. Participants will hear about where Florida currently stands with biofuels infrastructure, the latest renewable energy technologies and the growing market for carbon credits. 
Economist Wally Tyner says between 2004 and the beginning of 2008, oil went from $40 per barrel to $120 per barrel at the same time corn prices increased from $2.00 a bushel to $6.00. “Of that $4 increase, about $1 is due to the US subsidy and about $3 is due to the higher crude oil price,” Tyner told a 
University of Nebraska policy specialist Brad Lubben, who gave his analysis of the study at the forum in terms of public policy, said this is an important point to consider when attempting to change the Renewable Fuels Standard in an effort to lower food prices because it is the “easiest” to manipulate. “It’s an important consequence to realize that the easiest policy to attack may have relatively little significance and little impact on the current supply and demand balance for these ag commodities and for energy,” Lubben said.
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A new company has been formed that looks to lead the U.S. hydrogen market.
The county’s regional planning commission unanimously agreed to issue a zoning permit to BlueFire Ethanol to build a $30 million facility in Lancaster, located north of Los Angeles. The plant will be built next to a landfill and construction is scheduled to begin in the fall.