Meat industry stokes fight against ethanol subsidy

Several representatives of the livestock industry called for Congress to end its support of ethanol, in a letter to the House Ways and Mean Committee. "Although we support the need to advance renewable and alternative sources of energy, we strongly believe that it is time that the mature corn-based ethanol industry operates on a level playing field with other commodities that rely on corn as their major input," the letter says. The letter was signed by American Meat Institute, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, National Pork Producers Council, National Turkey Federation and the National Chicken Council, Philip Brasher of the Des Moines Register reports on the paper's Green Fields blog.

"Favoring one segment of agriculture at the expense of another does not benefit agriculture as a whole or the consumers that ultimately purchase our products," the meat interests wrote. Matt Hartwig of the Renewable Fuels Association  responded in an email to Brasher: "Once again, corporate livestock interests are seeking … a return to the days they bought corn under the price of production for the American farmer. Such practices resulted in farmers getting more income from the government than they could from the marketplace, while corporate livestock industries prospered." (Read more)