Tuesday, August 14, 2012

To help livestock producers and limit meat prices, U.N. wants feds to halt mandated ethanol production

The United Nations is calling on the United States to halt its mandate for ethanol production in order to lower corn prices, which would help struggling livestock producers and mitigate increases in meat prices. Recent oppressive drought caused the U.S. Department of Agriculture to estimate a large decrease in the size of the U.S. corn crop last week, which forced prices to almost $9 a bushel.

About 40 percent of U.S. corn will be used for ethanol production as part of the government mandate, Javier Blas and Gregory Meyer of the Financial Times report. But UN Food and Agriculture Organization Director-General Jose Graziano wrote in a Financial Times opinion piece that a temporary suspension of ethanol production "would give some respite to the market and allow more of the crop to be channelled towards food and feed uses." (Read more)

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