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Posted by Kevin in Ohio on Saturday, February 23, 2008 at 10:32:29 :
In Reply to: Re: ethanol = higher prices posted by MoparNorm on Friday, February 22, 2008 at 14:00:20 :
I remember years ago Paul Harvey broke down the actual cost of one loaf of bread. Most was taxes but the farmer ended up getting less than the person who delivered the bread. Anybody have a copy of that anywhere? It was a very interesting piece.
Food prices have always been shady to me as the farmer hasn't, until recently, got an increased price for his product. They have been forced to increase production and/or lower input costs to keep up. Less working ground(no till) is one example. With combines and large tractors costing over $200,000.00 it is no longer an easy/cheap thing to get into on a larger scale.
Meat prices will be more impacted as It's more cost effective to sell your grain than feed it. Something has to give there.
Greed, in both foodstuffs(processing, making of it) and oil, has always run the market because we are at their will. Most people do not want to grow their own food. I try to support local guys on things I don't grow myself. Making your own fuel is basically impossible(except home heating).
The one good thing I see with ethanol is it WOULD open up competition. Farmers could form an investment group to produce the ethanol to compete with big producers. The government would probably step in to protect coporate america but I hope that wouldn't happen.
Here is a scenario I thought about a few days ago when that oil installation burnt sending prices up INSTANTLY. How would the American people and Government react if Food and ethanol prices went up like that because a Grain elavator in Kansas caught fire??? Why the government allows this and doesn't see it as a monopoly I'll NEVER figure out. Well wait, campaign funding and kickbacks come to mind ;) Kevin
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