New Free Resource on Feeding Distillers Grains

A free downloadable book is available from Iowa State on feeding distillers grains to livestock and poultry. It can be accessed at the link below.

MATRIC Publishes Book on Feeding Distillers Grains

Gene Identified to Improve Rice Yields

Rice is the number one food crop for the majority of the people on earth. Improved yields are critical for meeting future food needs.

Scientists identify gene that may contribute to improved rice yield

A team of scientists, including Hong Ma, Penn State distinguished professor of biology, has identified a gene in rice that controls the size and weight of rice grains. The gene may prove to be useful for breeding high-yield rice and, thus, may benefit the vast number of people who rely on this staple food for survival. "Our work shows that...(complete news release here).

Sorghum Biofuel Conference

Grain sorghum is tolerant of drought and poor soils and is grown in areas unsuitable for other biofuel crops with high water requirements. I would rather see it used for ethanol than corn. Corn takes far too much water.

USDA Conference Spotlights Sorghum's Biofuel Potential

By Ann Perry
August 18, 2008

WASHINGTON, D.C., August 18, 2008—Sorghum's potential as a biofuel crop will be explored at the International Workshop on Sorghum for Biofuels which begins in Houston, Texas, tomorrow. More than...(complete news release here).

IRRI Looks at Rice Crisis

The IRRI has released their July-Sept. issue. The news release linked below contains links to the various articles in the issue. It is a very thoughtful look at the current world rice situation and some proposed solutions.

Rice Today Vol. 7 No. 3, July–September 2008

Solving the rice crisis: What needs to be done?

The latest from Rice Today, the magazine of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)

Los Baños, Philippines – In April and May this year, agriculture in general and rice in particular dominated world headlines in a way not seen for decades. As rice prices skyrocketed to 35-year highs, civil unrest broke out in several countries around the globe. The latest issue of Rice Today offers a rice crisis roundup, including...(complete news release here).

Ethanol Battle Not Over

Livestock producers are suffering from high feed prices. Soon, we will likely see a reduction in numbers in our livestock herd which will translate ultimately to higher protein prices for consumers.

This issue is not just domestic in nature. U.S. corn prices have an impact on the world market. Most other countries that use our corn do so for human consumption. In places like Africa, the effect of high U.S. corn prices is a contributor to famine conditions.


Ethanol battle unlikely to fade

Livestock, food industries discuss intensifying push to change law

By BRETT CLANTON
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
Aug. 8, 2008, 10:08PM

Efforts to cut or freeze U.S. corn ethanol requirements are unlikely to end with the federal government's denial Thursday of Texas Gov. Rick Perry's plea to waive half of this year's mandate.

Livestock and food industry groups that backed the request already are talking about increased lobbying efforts in Washington to change the law.

Legislation under discussion in the Senate could...(complete article here).

EU Cereal Harvest Projections

We may see U.S. yields down significantly. This is important news.

Annual crop yield forecast: European Commission foresees above average cereals harvest for 2008

EU Bio-fuels Reaction and Food Price Impact

The European backlash to bio-fuels appears to be much greater than in the U.S. It may be due to the way foods are prepared there as opposed to U.S. methods. In the U.S., the volume of pre-pared foods is extremely high relative to most of the world. The high level of preparation places a greater percentage of the cost of those foods in the pre-preparation than in the food itself. Therefore a change in the cost of the basic commodity would have a smaller relative impact on the overall price. In the lesser developed world such as Africa, the impact is extremely high.

ENVIRONMENT: EU Backs Away From Agrofuels

By Julio Godoy
PARIS, Jul 28 (IPS) - EU ministers for energy and the environment have revised their targets for renewable energy in the face of abundant new evidence that increased production of agrofuels is partly responsible for the worldwide increase of food prices.

The EU has had a declared objective of...(complete article here).

New Variety of Barley is Released

USDA's ARS releases a new variety of Barley.

"Clearwater": An Eco-Friendly Feed Barley

By Marcia Wood
June 5, 2008

A new barley that benefits the environment as well as farm animals has been developed by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists and their colleagues.

"Clearwater" hulless barley is...(complete news release here).

U.S. Senator Cornyn on Ethanol

U.S. Senator John Cornyn has graciously provided the guest posting below.

Hello Panhandle Poet readers…it’s a privilege to guest post here.

I wanted to touch base with you regarding an issue which is very pressing in the Panhandle, ethanol.

When first introduced to the marketplace, it was hoped that ethanol would help revitalize rural America, lower the price we pay at the pump and reduce our dependence on foreign oil.

That’s a worthy goal, yet the government’s focus on ethanol has produced a problem. There have been unintended adverse consequences to our economy from the focus on ethanol production. Chiefly, since February of 2006 the combined price of corn, wheat and soybeans has increased more than 416 percent.

For this reason and many more, I co-sponsored legislation which was introduced recently to freeze the renewable fuel standard corn-based ethanol mandate at current 2008 levels.

In the panhandle, like other places, the effect of ethanol production has been mixed. While a few have benefitted from it, a great many others have suffered.

As more and more farmers grow corn for ethanol production, cattle feeding ration prices have shot sky high. Mandates, along with the high cost of fuel, are squeezing every bit of profit out of cattle feedlots today.

As consumers continue to see rising food and fuel prices, freezing the corn-based ethanol mandate will allow us to re-evaluate the consequences of using food for fuel and determine the best way forward. Texas will remain a leader as we work to diversify our nation’s energy supply to include alternative and renewable sources, but in the meantime Congress must exercise its oversight role to ensure there are no further unintended consequences. A freeze of the mandate will allow time for necessary assessments and reduce increasing grocery, grain and feed prices.

Last year, the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) provided the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the authority to waive the mandates, or adjust them as necessary to provide relief for consumers.

Last month, I joined Sen. Hutchison and others in sending a letter to EPA Administrator requesting an update on the pending rule-making process for the waiver of all or portions of the ethanol mandate passed by Congress in 2007. The letter also urged the EPA to consider the sharp rise in food prices as they review the mandate.

Freezing the mandate at its current level for one year is not a long term solution, but it is a good start towards finding one.

My heartfelt thanks go to the Senator for addressing this issue and for providing this post.

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Causes Behind the "World Food Crisis"

The article linked below is an interesting look at the "Global Food Crisis" and its causes. One thing to note is that there seems to be more than adequate food available to feed the world. It is an issue of price, not availability. What is driving world food prices up if supply exceeds demand? That is the real question which must be addressed.

Anup Shah, Global Food Crisis 2008, GlobalIssues.org, Created: Tuesday, May 27, 2008

New GrainGenes Website from USDA

A new website from the USDA for researchers working with one of the most important food crops on the planet.

GrainGenes Website Speeds Gene Discovery

By Marcia Wood
May 20, 2008

Even though there's much about wheat that's familiar and ordinary, one feature of this ancient crop—its genetic makeup—remains relatively unknown. In fact, the everyday wheat plant doesn't just have one genome; it has several. In all, wheat's genetic makeup is gargantuan and complex. And it isn't...(complete news release here).

USDA Report on Factor Affecting Food Prices

Food commodity prices are determined by the complex interaction of many economic forces. This report from the USDA provides a good comprehensive look at those factors.

Global Agricultural Supply and Demand: Factors Contributing to the Recent Increase in Food Commodity Prices

By Ronald Trostle

Outlook Report No. (WRS-0801) 30 pp, May 2008

World market prices for major food commodities such as grains and vegetable oils have risen sharply to historic highs of more than 60 percent above levels just 2 years ago. Many factors have contributed to the runup in food commodity prices. Some factors reflect trends of slower growth in production and more rapid growth in demand, which have contributed to a tightening of world balances of grains and oilseeds over the last decade. Recent factors that have further tightened world markets include increased global demand for biofuels feedstocks and adverse weather conditions in 2006 and 2007 in some major grain and oilseed producing areas. Other factors that have added to global food commodity price inflation include the declining value of the U.S. dollar, rising energy prices, increasing agricultural costs of production, growing foreign exchange holdings by major food importing countries, and policies adopted recently by some exporting and importing countries to mitigate their own food price inflation. (Access the complete report here.)

Corn: Food or Fuel?

The food versus fuel debate continues. The corn farmers are happy.


Siphoning off corn to fuel our cars

As farmers feed ethanol plants, a costly link is forged between food and oil

By Steven Mufson

CHARLES CITY, Iowa - Erwin Johnson picks up a clump of the dark, rich soil that he has farmed for 35 years, like his father and grandfather before him. In a few months, this flat expanse of northern Iowa will be crowded with corn ready to be trucked to market.

A year ago, that market got a little closer -- and a lot better. Instead of sending his corn to a barge company to be shipped down the Mississippi River for export, Johnson now loads it into an open truck and sends it two miles up the gravel road to a hulking new ethanol distillery that he can see from his field. The plant is paying him $5.50 or more a bushel, more than twice as much as Johnson could get just a couple of years ago.

"This is a fantastic time to be farming," Johnson says. "I'm 65, but I can't quit now."

Across the country, ethanol plants are swallowing more and more of the nation's corn crop. This year, about a quarter of U.S. corn will go to feeding ethanol plants instead of poultry or livestock. That has...(complete article here).

The Decline of U.S. Wheat Production

Shifting acres from wheat to corn and soybeans is changing the landscape of the Great Plains.

Emptying the breadbasket

Decades of Great Plains' wheat as king and low prices everywhere are over

By Dan Morgan

At Stephen Fleishman's busy Bethesda shop, the era of the 95-cent bagel is coming to an end.

Breaking the dollar barrier "scares me," said the Bronx-born owner of Bethesda Bagels. But with 100-pound bags of North Dakota flour now above $50 -- more than double what they were a few months ago -- he sees no alternative to a hefty increase in the price of his signature product, a bagel made by hand in the back of the store.

"I've never seen anything like this in 20 years," he said. "It's a nightmare."

Fleishman and his customers are hardly alone. Across America, turmoil in the world wheat markets has sent prices of bread, pasta, noodles, pizza, pastry and bagels skittering upward, bringing protests from consumers.

But underlying this food inflation are changes that are transforming U.S. agriculture and...(complete article here).

Texas Requests Ethanol Cutback

I know this particular move was politically motivated and relatively safe in Texas because corn is not on of the biggest crops -- although there is a lot of it grown in the Corpus Christi area as well as the Panhandle. Beef on the other hand is huge and there is significant swine and poultry production as well. He is correct in his statement that the ethanol mandates are misguided. I don't expect anything to come of this but it is good to see his effort.

Texas seeks U.S. ethanol cutbacks; cites corn costs

By Joan Gralla

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Friday asked the U.S. government to cut "skyrocketing" food prices by waiving half of the renewable fuel standard for ethanol made from grain.

The Republican governor from the oil-producing state said in a statement that such a waiver was "the best, quickest way" to ease rising food costs before lasting damage was done.

"We're diversifying our state's energy portfolio at a rapid rate, but this misguided mandate is...(complete article here).

Complexity of the Global Food Crisis

The article linked below from the BBC is one of the more thoughtful that I've found on the "global food crisis." It discusses the complexity of issues that have contributed to rising food prices rather than seeking to place blame on a particular factor.

How to solve the global food crisis

By Kaushik Basu
Professor of economics, Cornell University

The world economy has many problems but none more pressing than what is happening to food prices.

There have been food riots in Haiti, the Philippines, Ethiopia, Indonesia and several other nations.

Twenty thousand desperate textile workers in Bangladesh went on a rampage, giving rise to fears of wider instability, since the garment industry accounts for three-fourths of the country's exports.

Global food prices have been rising over the last three years; but in the last few months they have spiralled out of control.

Over the last 12 months the...(complete article here).

Human Behavior's Impact on Food Prices

Below is linked a thoughtful article on the rising price of basic food grains throughout the world. There is only one factor discussed with which I would take exception. That is the impact of biofuels on the prices of wheat and rice. Although there could arguably be a point at which competition for acres will impact production of these two crops, I do not believe that it has occurred at this point.

Traditionally, in the U.S., corn is primarily destined for cattle feed. In the southern part of the wheat growing areas of the country -- such as Texas and Oklahoma -- cattle often graze wheat pasture (stocker phase) prior to entering the feed lot for finishing. The cattle are removed from the wheat pasture at an early date so that the wheat can continue to mature and produce grain. These are complementary enterprises. With the high prices for corn due to competing demands from ethanol production, it would be assumed that cattle would remain in this stocker phase of production longer -- thus taking the wheat acreage out of harvest for grain. High prices for wheat have actually had the opposite effect. Farmers are electing to forego income from stocker cattle in the hopes of harvesting even more wheat from their planted acres. This is a purely economic decision on the part of the farmers who often lease their land to cattlemen for grazing.

My point is that in spite of the potential for ethanol production taking acreage away from wheat production, it has not in fact occurred due to other market factors. If allowed to operate, free enterprise will allocate resources in the most efficient manner possible. Rising food prices are certainly a part of that mechanism, but they are not the driving force. Fuel prices are driving the issue and they are a function of many factors. (see this post)

How Countries Worsen the Food Price Crisis

By Kent Garber

Since early 2007, when food prices began marching noticeably upward, there have been violent riots in more than a dozen countries, growing malaise in developed areas, including the United States, and a fluid debate about the origins of the spike. On the last point, a consensus has emerged. A slew of factors--record fuel prices, ethanol production, unprecedented demand, the effects of climate change--have been blamed, creating a sort of perfect storm for the world's food supply.

Although each merits attention, another culprit must now be added: the human reaction to the crisis.

Since the first of the year, additional jumps in food prices have bred not only uneasiness and widespread fear but also...(complete article here).

New Data Sets From USDA

Some new data sets from the USDA:

Cotton and Wool Outlook

Latest U.S. Agricultural Trade Data

Oil Crops Outlook

Rice Outlook

Key Reports from the USDA

Some Key Reports from the USDA:



Grain Stocks



Prospective Plantings



Rice Stocks



These are all important indicators of price movement of important food and feed grains over the coming months.

Rice Prices Jump

Rising food grains prices will continue to be a problem.

Jump in rice price fuels fears of unrest

By Javier Blas in London and Daniel Ten Kate in Bangkok
Published: March 27 2008 18:30 Last updated: March 28 2008 09:06

Rice prices jumped 30 per cent to an all-time high on Thursday, raising fears of fresh outbreaks of social unrest across Asia where the grain is a staple food for more than 2.5bn people.

The increase came after Egypt, a leading exporter, imposed a...(complete article here).