[SunkenCiv]

It's the Obamacare, stupid! One-half gallon of oil in the form of pesticides per bushel of corn would cost $2 to $3 per bushel. If this were true -- and it clearly isn't -- it should be enough to illustrate to literally anyone that the price of petroleum is quite literally the ONLY thing driving corn prices. And this idiotic piece of agitprop -- from a hydrogen "energy" advocacy site -- also shows the guy in the encounter suit spraying chemical fertilizer, a sight that I've never been privileged to see, what with me *growing up on a farm*. The Bum Rap on Biofuels [2008] Campaign to vilify ethanol revealed [2008] Oil Price Pressure Driving Global Switch to Biofuels [2006]

[2111USMC]

From Wikipedia:

In 2010, the EU spent €57 billion on agricultural development, of which €39 billion was spent on direct subsidies.[1] Agricultural and fisheries subsidies form over 40% of the EU budget.[2] Since 1992 (and especially since 2005), the EU's Common Agricultural Policy has undergone significant change as subsidies have mostly been decoupled from production.

Hmmm... so that's roughly $85.5 billion U.S.

[RetiredTexasVet]

It’s criminal that we are subsidizing ethanol production in the first place. If it takes a subsidy then it is not worth doing. What everyone is overlooking is that the Midwest is planting every available acre in corn to get the subsidy for ethanol production. Back in the 1920s, they planted every available acre in wheat so as to make tons of money from the world shortage of wheat. Then drought stuck, yes UNEXPECTEDLY, and the whole Midwest was devestated for a decade. And just why do these Midwestern farmers think that they now have some special exemption from Nature?