Ethanol boom means tension among farm lobbies

As the ethanol industry gains momentum nationally, various farm lobbies find themselves battling over ways to slow or speed its growth, reports The Associated Press. Christopher Leonard explains that as corn farmers and their lobbyists push for more government subsidies for ethanol production, meat and dairy farmers and their lobbyists seek the opposite. With Congress considering new fuel standards that could bring production of renewable fuels to 36 billion gallons by 2022, the future of the biofuels industry could be determined by the "food fight shaping up between grain producers and livestock lobbyists," Leonard writes.

"It's very true that the agricultural lobby will speak with a louder voice if it's saying the same thing. In that sense, it's been a less united voice than it has in the past," Pat Westhoff, an economist with the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute at the University of Missouri, told Leonard.

Amber Waves, the publication of the Department of Agriculture, offers a clear and concise overview of the ethanol explosion. In this report, Paul C. Westcott explores the catalysts for the ethanol boom, namely, rising oil prices and increased government incentives, as well as the long-term impacts of an increased production of corn-based ethanol, such as a reduction in livestock and rises in retail prices. These forecasts fuel the debate among farm lobbies, with each side choosing some to bolster their arguments. (Read more)