Because corn is increasingly used for ethanol production, it has decoupled from historical livestock cycles and changed the margin relationship between feed costs and the sale of livestock products.
Corn, he concedes, is an energy-intensive crop, but Tumbleson says he may be better off than wheat or soybean farmers because corn is in just about everything we eat.
Because it doesn't stir up the soil, it lets the land keep its stored carbon and even adds some, because those corn stalks on the surface gradually become part of the soil.
Choosing plants with no food value sidesteps one of the biggest criticisms of another synthetic fuel, corn ethanol, because critics say that corn should be used as food, not fuel.
The price of corn is pivotal in the world food equation, and food markets are on edge because U.S. corn stocks are plummeting.
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The price of corn is a critical variable in the world food equation, and food markets are on edge because U.S. corn stocks are plummeting due to the ethanol mandate.
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Other meat producers, including JBS' main rival, Tyson Foods, are also dealing with income woes, mainly because of spikes in corn prices that increased the costs of raising cattle.
Tyson Foods ( TSN - news - people ), are also dealing with income woes, mainly because of spikes in corn prices that increased the costs of raising cattle.
The basic argument is that because ethanol comes from corn, the push to replace some traditional fuels with ethanol has created a new demand for corn that has thrown off world food prices.
He considers himself one of the lucky ones because he grows his own corn, soybeans and alfalfa.
The other reality is that Americans and others will likely be paying a lot more for cereal, sweeteners and meat as the price of corn goes up because of failed crops.
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Because it's made from corn, it is both inexpensive and easy on the earth to produce.
So that's probably why one of the reasons corn uses more energy because it gives you more versatility, so therefore you put more into it.
Corn also comes under pressure because its use is mandatory in ethanol production.
Right now cellulosic ethanol is potentially eight times more energy-efficient than corn-based ethanol, because you eliminate the middle step of converting it into sugar before you convert it into ethanol.
It's recalling all of its Taco Bell brand taco shells because they were found to contain genetically engineered corn not approved for human consumption.
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Though no one admits as much even a mild cynic might suspect that it is illegal because ethane-to-ethanol is cheaper than corn-to-ethanol, and much cheaper as ethane prices collapse.
Corn futures have already hit record high prices because of US weather problems.
But regular corn-based ethanol is unlikely to be the fuel choice of American motorists anytime soon--not least because only so much farmland can be devoted to growing corn for ethanol without denting food production.
Gore's "mistake" was a whopper: Corn is a poor substrate for ethanol production because it takes a lot of conventional fossil energy to grow and ferment it, and its diversion to ethanol production creates a conflict between two of our most fundamental needs--food and energy.
"I actually had cold Corn Flakes last night before I went to bed because I had milk that was still good, " he said in a YouTube video Tuesday.
The Cornell team said the risks to monarchs could be heightened because the butterflies migrate northward through the U.S. Corn Belt from their winter homes in Mexico during the spring months, when corn pollen is thickest.
Known as "ancient grains, " thanks to the advanced age of the species (a cool 5, 000 years old in some cases) and because they've managed to evade the industrial grooming of modern crops like wheat and corn, these old-school strains have retained their unique personalities.
Called C4 plants because they utilize a molecule with four carbons, plants that use this evolutionary trick include sugar cane, corn and other tropical plants.
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That is mainly because the United States and Europe see ethanol as an agricultural commodity and protect their own producers (mainly of corn ethanol).
The poverty is all the more striking because of the richness of the setting: green and golden rolling hills, roaming horses and cattle, and tall corn and golden sunflowers sprouting from the fertile soil.
Although the process to produce ethanol from switchgrass was more complex than using food crops such as wheat or corn, the so-called "second generation" biofuel could produce much higher energy yields per tonne because it utilised the whole plant rather than just the seeds.
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