The issue is not about wasting the byproduct, or using it after it is processed. The issue is, that at a 10% mandate for fuel, it is taking 40% of all Corn produced to comply with the fuel mandate. Think about it! for every 10 truckloads of corn produced, 4 go for ethanol. Make that ratio 15% and 6.5 out of 10 truckloads will go for ethanol.
That processed corn is taken away from human consumption. If it were going to feed cattle and hogs, then why is the price of those foods going up so high? would the price of meat not be the same or lower if there were this abundance of feed for them resulting from ethanol?
Finally, your argument is rather ignorant of the biggest fact of all. And that is; If every square acre of farmland on this Continent were used solely for Ethanol production, there is only enough crop capacity to provide about 28% of our daily needs for fuel. We are already using 10% of that quota which means that 18% of our land capacity is going for food.
That’s why I’m not for subsidies or mandates. I am however for not putting our grain on a barge and shipping it overseas to our enemies. I’d rather process here to useful things, create jobs here, give farmers more income here, etc. I have no problem converting it to fuel either.
Transportation, i.e. oil prices are the big factor in food going up. The next one is we’ve had crappy harvests for two years and that makes grain and oilseed prices go up. Ethanol doesn’t really affect the animal feed issue in and of itself.
The way we should be doing things is taking the protein and fat and any other valuable substance off first, then fermenting the carbs to something useful. Not necessarily ethanol, but not saying you can’t either. Let the market decide, but more importantly keep it here.