And this year the demand is for corn, corn and more corn. Ethanol Demand Has Unexpected Impact on Farmers and the Global Food Supply. In about two weeks, he'll be fanning out over several hundred rolling acres, responding as he and other farmers do every year to the law of supply and demand. And with ethanol production taking an increasing percentage of the corn crop, farmers are hard-pressed to meet the traditional demand for corn as a food stuff for human or animal consumption, even...

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...

If corn planted acres were to come in at 90 million acres instead of the projected 86 million acres, and if the crop yield were to remain on trend, the extra 4 million acres would add 612 million bushels to production. The strong demand for corn by the ethanol industry is behind some of the best corn prices farmers have seen in more than a decade. We recently read that Brazilian farmers have increased their &#8220second harvest corn crop planted acres and are expecting to produce and extra...

In Pennsylvania, corn slated for ethanol production covers only 1.4 million acres of an agricultural landscape dominated by dairy and livestock farming. With more than 90 million acres of farmland devoted to the profit-rich crop nationwide, the rush to grow corn for ethanol is squeezing Pennsylvania's agricultural life blood, Dennis C. Alternative fuels are helping to turn cornfields into golden cash cows for many American farmers, but for Pennsylvania agriculture it's causing bushels-full...

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 food ingredient. ContraCostaTimes.com - In America, corn is king, UC teacher says. 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...

Exports and livestock have long been the top markets for corn, but ethanol's emergence has helped push prices closer to the record price of $5. Kentucky and Indiana farmers are planting more corn to feed the demand for ethanol, but consumers are feeling the pinch as it helps drive up prices for beef, chicken and even soft drinks. Ethanol is grain alcohol that can be mixed with gasoline in concentrations of up to ten percent in all cars and up to 85 percent in specially equipped "flexible...

Generally, the growth of the ethanol industry likely will reduce the amount of corn available for exports or livestock feed. However, the higher corn prices may be negative for some of the livestock producers that will have to bid for corn against ethanol plants and foreign exports. The question for the industry is how many more acres will switch to corn on corn from a traditional 50/50 corn/soybean rotation. Another change in the building of ethanol plants that could affect Midwest...

As ethanol plants sprout up around the state, and farmers shift their crops to feed them, Agriculture Commissioner Bob Odom says growers should get part of the action. Odom says the corn crop has increased to 700-thousand acres, primarily to supply ethanol plants. He says other unlikely crops -- fiber-producing plants such as high-fiber sugarcane and switchgrass --- are going to become increasingly popular, because as corn prices rise, fiber becomes more affordable as an ethanol feedstock....

The corn market is trading the weather forecasts right now and when some areas didn t receive as much rain as was forecast, we saw the corn market sell off. Traders still feel that corn will get planted eventually, but the further the delays linger, the bigger the opportunity of not all the corn getting planted. Markets are very volatile and until we get some corn planted in the big producing areas, it is only going to get more volatile. Traders will be looking at the crop progress report...