Posted on 02/02/2008 10:39:14 PM PST by neverdem
When corn prices jump like that — and it is due to speculation, rather than actual demand — the price of beef falls, because farmers watch futures, and if they’re not going to make money on the beef, the beef gets butchered.
I think we all remember the Oprah fiasco that led to a drop in beef demand at a time when feed prices were high (about ten years ago). If this year is like last year, we’ll be awash in cheap beef for a while, then beef prices will be high until three or four years go by and there’s a normal supply at butchering weight.
Last June corn was over $4, and by July it was $3.25 a bushel. CNN Money sez that the D of Ag tallied corn exports of 1.715 million metric tons for the week ended January 17, mostly to Asia, and between probably having to buy it back when needed, and meanwhile paying $3 a gallon for fuel to plow, plant, spray, and harvest, what will happen is farmers will be plowing and planting right out to the middle of the road in 2008. :’)
ethonol production is inefficient, costly and apparently the refining process is very polluting. It takes too much energy for too little energy gain
There are many sizes and shapes of hay bales. 2 & 3 string hand handled bales, large round and even larger cubes.
Large volumes of hay are priced per ton.
I call it ethanol contaminated gasoline.
I also hear ethanol has less motive power than gasoline
Yup. It takes a gallon of diesel to contaminate gasoline with 1.3 gallons of ethanol, of which you get a gallons worth of energy. Government gets tax on the gallon of diesel and the 1.3 gallons of ethanol. When you die you will get total enlightenment.
Yes, yes this is more like it. I agree with what the author is saying. The problem is that I’m an engineer who has worked in the power/energy generation and distribution area as well as systems controls. I understand how these systems work and how we are dependent on the availability of a reliable source of energy. The average citizen simply doesn’t get it. I can’t tell you how frustrating it is to talk to some of my friends and relatives. To put it bluntly they are children. How can we make the public aware of how critical it is to start up the nuclear industry again? I do not know. I think we will need consistent brown-outs and black-outs to get to some of the knuckle draggers out there. But by this time it maybe too late. We could be in a downward sprial. I think it was H.L. Mencken who once said the nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public. Sadly I thing Mencken got it right.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.