A better analysis would be that if the demand for "fuel corn" increased, farmers would devote more of their acreage to it, rather than other varietals. That could, in turn, raise the price on corn that is used for corn syrup, which Heineken may use to brew their beer. (Note to self: re-evaluate my choice in beer).

Elvisisdead

abz_zeus

Anyway, one more reason to brew your own!

Pelagius

"If corn is suddenly going to go gangbusters.... I humbly suggest it is time to scrap all these damn farm subsidies and let 'em grow corn!!!"

While I wholeheartedly agree that the farm subsidy system is perhaps the most f'ed up program in our entire government and desperately in need of reform, sudden removal would probably put our entire national food supply into chaos as various sectors of farming collapsed entirely.

Not that farmers can't grow crop X without subsidies (the Amish do it, and make far more per acre than farmers taking subsidies), but the system is so entrenched and the incentives so perverse that removal of subsidies would bankrupt many small farmers and yes, even throw the corporate operations (like CAFOs that produce actual food, not Monsanto or whatever. Although it would fuck with Monsanto's bottom line, which I'm always in favor of.) into total disarray.

If you've got a farmer making payments on a $220,000 combine (I'm told that's what they cost) because you're growing crops under the system that the US pays subsidies for you to grow (i.e., acres and acres and acres and acres of #2 corn) and those subsidies disappear suddenly, you are SCREWED. Combines are primarily useful in large monoculture situations, which is convenient for corporations and the US government getting food most efficiently from farmers, but monoculture farming is only marginally profitable. That's part of why we subsidize -- "we" as the government and the corporations are willing to pay in subsidies for the convenience of monoculture. Remove those subsidies, monoculture is no longer profitable, and your combine is totally useless if you switch to a different type of farming -- and since everybody else is jumping ship to get away from monocultures, the market is glutted with used, useless combines.

(And there are probably a lot of farmers who have never farmed outside the subsidized monoculture system and wouldn't actually know HOW to do it.)

Eyebrows McGee

coraspartan

kcskater

mad_oak

SexCpotatoes

Where I live farmers grow two large-scale crops: corn and soybeans. What happens is that when the price of corn skyrockets (due to alternative fuel subsidies and whatnot), more farmers convert acreage to corn to take advantage of the better prices, which in turn creates a shortage of soybeans because fewer acres are devoted to soybeans, and that raises the prices of soybeans.

That's the theory behind why ethanol and biofuels could raises the prices of a wide variety of crops GROWN ON SIMILAR LAND that have nothing to do with biofuels. Cranberries, which are grown in bogs, and blueberries, which require very acid soil, are not going to be displaced for corn acreage. But barley and hops might be, as land that grows barley and hops is at least marginally suitable (and frequently entirely suitable) for corn.

Eyebrows McGee

crackalacker

ehawk

I beleive that is exactly the source of this assumption. If the price of corn climbs because of scarity caused by increased ethanol production brewers may find themselves using more expensive materials/processes (for example: using barley instead of corn sugar additives).

Having brewed beer, I can say that corn sugar can be used in a variety of ways that dont' compromise flavor. For instance, (and I doubt Hienekin is doing this) corn sugars are frequently used by people who 'naturally' carbonate their beers (In other words, they bottle their finished beer with a small amount of corn sugar and let the yeasts create the carbonation). Also, corn sugar often finds itself added to the kettle in order to raise the alcohol content while having little impact on the flavor (I do this with the occasional light ale recipe when I want the beer to have more 'kick' but not change the other flavors with the addition of more malt).

Kornkob

leftistcoast

John

Farm prices in the US Midwest have gone up for the first time since the 80's, due to increased demand for corn for ethanol. I sincerely hope this is a trend that continues. Anyone that can grow corn is creating raw materials for fuels. US, Africa, Russia, Asia could all just grow their fuels they need to power their economies...this could really get interesting.

John

Bingo I think

mikesfree

SpecialK

heinzs

Pelagius