Ethanol continues to get more than its fair share of blame for higher food prices, but Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns urges people to look at the whole picture.
Speaking to farm broadcasters in Washington D.C. recently, Johanns said that he hates to pick out one item in the food chain and start blaming it for rising costs. “Look at how much diesel fuel has gone up recently,” he said. “What’s a significant piece of the food chain? It’s moving that commodity from farm to table.”
The latest forecast for food price increases this year is between three and four percent. Beef and poultry are up already over 4.5% from last year. But the largest increases are in fresh fruits and vegetables, which are up six to eight percent over 2006. According to USDA economist Ephraim Leibtag, “Part of this is due to weather damage, but also we just have seen higher production costs overall and higher costs of transportation coming into the system more fully.”
So, when it comes to reports that increased ethanol production is the cause of increased food prices, Johanns said, “Again, I would just urge people to be very cautious about this story. It tends to be an interesting story but it may not have the significance that one would argue. We need to tell the whole story.”
Listen to Johanns’ comments here: [audio:http://www.zimmcomm.biz/audio/dc-johanns.mp3] 1:20 mp3
Vernon County lies in west-central Missouri on the Kansas border, with roads and rail lines that would easily connect the plants with farmers in both states supplying the corn and soybeans.
USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service is on the forefront of developing plants that could be used as future energy sources through the 
“The Plant Material program began back in the middle ‘30s when the Soil Conservation Service was established,” Escheman said. “We are now getting into bioenergy where we are working with universities and other producers.”
There are 27 regional NRCS Plant Materials centers nationwide, including one in 
University of Missouri researchers are testing to see if glycerin, left over from biodiesel production, is a viable feed source for beef.
“We’re really looking at the energy value and how it compares to corn,” Kerley said. “When the animal consumes glycerin, it’s absorbed, and the glycerin is used to make glucose. Actually, it’s like feeding sugar to a cow. Because it’s liquid, there are two things we worry about – one, how much can be used in the diet before it changes the form of the diet; and two, is there a limit to how much glycerin can be processed by the animal? We’ll feed it to them for a period of 160 to 180 days.”
I think I know how Don Scott feels. Don works for the 
Tyson is defending the use of a biodiesel tax credit by the meat-producing giant and oil giant ConocoPhillips.
It looks like it’s truly the end of the road, or the water in this case, for a biodiesel-powered boat trying to set a record for a ’round-the-world trip.
As I was in the homestretch of my 500-plus mile trip, burning plenty of $3.25/gallon gas, I noticed an alternative fuel source turning above the farm fields just a few miles off Highway 71… windmills.
For years, I’ve seen the turbines in the distance. Now that I’m reporting on this type of energy source, I decided to get a closer look. Turning at a corner where many times my family and I have stopped for gas and snacks, we made our way to where the white turbines turn in the constant breeze of an area known as Buffalo Ridge… a high spot of land that seems to catch every breeze… and a natural for the approximately 260 turbines along its flat plateau. Locals say it is one of the largest wind farms in the world. It’s no wonder nearby Storm Lake earned its name and reputation of constantly have a significant chop on its shallow waters.
In the meantime, I thought about the gas station back on the corner of Highway 71 where I turned. In front of the pumps is a concrete statue of a dinosaur, symbolic of the fossil fuel that flows from those pumps. I thought how fitting a symbol for that type of fuel. Dinosaurs are extinct and won’t be coming back. Much like the concrete in the statue, the oil industry in many ways is immovable – stuck in a dwindling supply that will become extinct in its own time, maybe sooner than we think. Contrast that with the constant motion of the turbines. If the wind supply is ever exhausted, we’ll have more problems than how to light our homes. Even the more stationary corn and soybean fields below the wind generators hold the promise of renewable fuel in the form of ethanol and biodiesel.
The wind did have some drawbacks. When we finally arrived at our destination of Spirit Lake, the wind was fueling some good-sized waves… too big to let me chase the much-desired walleyes and northern pike like I would like to. At least for a while. The next day the winds calmed, and we picked up plenty of walleyes… and the biggest pike my Dad has got in more than 70 years of fishing – 37″ long, weighing 10 pounds. That’s big enough to make even a concrete dinosaur smile.
One former and two current Democratic presidential candidates are sponsors or co-sponsors of a bill introduced by Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) intended to expand consumer access to 85 percent ethanol fuel, or E-85. Primary sponsors of the bill with Klobuchar include Barack Obama, (D-IL), Kit Bond (R-MO), George Voinovich (R-OH), and Dick Durbin (D-IL). Senators Ben Nelson (D-NE), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Hilary Clinton (D-NY), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), and John Kerry (D-MA) are also co-sponsors of the legislation.
Apparently no new records to report, but ethanol production still remains strong, according to the latest figures.