Department of Food and Agriculture recently advised that meat costs would rise to meet a reduction in meat production based on spiraling feed costs as more corn is used to produce ethanol fuel. It is the one luxury meat retailers say consumers will hang on to as the rising price of corn drives up feed for livestock, reducing supplies of meat and poultry and sending prices soaring. While the most obvious effect is on beef prices because cattle are the largest animals and require the most...

The food system has been transformed from an equation where the sun feeds plants that feed humans to one where the sun and fossil fuels feed plants to feed humans, he said. Within America's common diet, Pollan argues, corn is the country's alpha food, with its tentacles in every food from soft drinks to bologna, whether to be grain feed for cattle, corn oil for frying or high fructose corn syrup as the ubiquitous ingredient. Because the agricultural industry focuses on singular commodities...

The rise in food prices is already causing distress among consumers in some parts of the world - especially relatively poor nations such as India and China. One of the chief causes of food price inflation is new demand for ethanol and biodiesel, which can be made from corn, palm oil, sugar and other crops. Politicians in markets where food costs are a particularly sensitive matter are moving to counter rising prices before they take a bigger economic toll or fuel unrest. Soaring prices for...

The four different kinds of forage fed to the horses had been made from the same paddock of grass, all of which was cut at the same time. The study involved four kinds of preserved forage - grass baled and wrapped with three different moisture contents, and hay. They never left this in preference to any of the other feeds, and ate up to 90 per cent of what was offered, compared with only 23 per cent of the hay. While hay has been the winter staple for domesticated horses since the Dark...

CHICAGO - The amount of corn used for ethanol continues to climb but the supply of corn is beginning to rebound a bit as livestock feeders seek cheaper sources of animal feed, such as feed wheat, analysts said on Tuesday. USDA left unchanged its outlook for the amount of corn to be used in the ethanol sector at 2.150 billion bushels, which nearly rivals the level of corn to be exported at 2.250 billion bushels. USDA's aggressive reduction of 125 million bushels in the amount of corn used...

Although there is no requirement that pet foods have premarket approval from the FDA, the labeling of pet food is regulated nationwide by two agencies, the Food and Drug Administration's Center for Veterinary Medicine and the Association of American Feed Control Officials. Although there is no requirement that pet foods have premarket approval from the FDA, the labeling of pet food is regulated nationwide by two agencies, the Food and Drug Administration's Center for Veterinary Medicine...

Research and producer observations have not come up with any effect on fertility, calf crop percentage, weaning weight or animal appearance from high salt intakes," said Cole. But in a herd of cattle, you'll likely find extremes on intake. Most forage contains ample amounts of chlorine, but most species of grasses tend to be short on sodium. But intake levels can vary, just like the methods of getting salt in the cattle. Other feed ingredients are now being used that help control intake,...

If compounds are not fed, or are fed at a low rate, and the herd is buffer fed, then a summer formulated mineral can be added to the buffer feed. The problems associated with magnesium deficiency and staggers at grazing are well known and most farmers are well aware of the action that needs to be taken. Winter diets are usually carefully balanced for minerals and vitamins and the same discipline needs to be applied to summer diets, especially as the mineral content of grass will vary...

Scientists and a growing number of biotechnology companies are attempting to remove corn from the ethanol equation because it has created huge demand for the global food staple. And with farmers planting corn at unprecedented rates, often instead of other crops, prices for other products may soon rise as well. Backers of alternative production methods argue that a technological change is needed soon, before corn-based ethanol grows so large that other manufacturing methods will be squeezed...