Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["Harold and Sue Karber" <karber@pldi.net>]

      this is just nuts....we need to educate the general public because no 
one asked anyone in real agriculture only those far removed from reality or 
on the corporate profit side of it.    Anyone with even slight knowledge of 
growing anything would see how insane it is.
     General News
     Nearly three out of four Americans are pro-ethanol: survey
      http://www.meatingplace.com/MembersOnly/webNews/details.aspx?item=19181
     By Tom Johnston on 11/2/2007 for Meatingplace.com


     Despite agriculture's skepticism about the feasibility of relying on 
renewable fuels to reduce America's reliance on foreign fuels, the general 
public favors the idea of filling their gas tanks with corn-based ethanol 
and the like.

     According to a recent survey, some 74 percent of Americans say the 
United States should increase domestic production of renewable fuels.

     Those polled also said Washington should play a role in supporting 
such efforts. Eight-seven percent indicated the government should actively 
support the development of a renewable fuels industry, and 77 percent feel 
Congress should encourage oil refiners to blend more ethanol into their 
gasoline products.

     Meantime, Americans don't appear to believe that ethanol production is 
the root cause of an increase in food prices, with 84 percent saying there 
is something other than ethanol to blame. Higher oil prices (46 percent), 
increased global demand (15 percent) and poor weather conditions such as 
drought (14 percent) were cited over ethanol production (7 percent).

     The survey was released by Renewable Fuels Now, a coalition of 
associations and companies, including the National Corn Growers Association, 
pushing energy independence via domestic production of renewable fuels. It 
was conducted Oct. 23-Oct. 25 by the Mellman Group and commissioned by the 
Renewable Fuels Association. The poll surveyed 1,000 adults.

     Perspective

     But Ron Plain, a professor of agricultural economics at the University 
of Missouri, told Meatingplace.com the United States could devote every acre 
of every agricultural crop, from corn to strawberries, to renewable fuels 
production, but the country would still need some 50 billion gallons of 
gasoline "to keep our cars going at the same rate they're going now."

     The United States uses about 141 billion of gallons of gasoline per 
year. Plain projects it would take 79 billion bushels of corn to produce 
enough ethanol to completely replace that amount of gas.

     This year, American farmers will produce 13 billion bushels of corn, 
of which only about 3.2 billion will be milled for ethanol.

     "Ethanol can reduce [gasoline use] somewhat, but it's not going to 
replace gasoline," Plain said. "We use way too much gas to be able to offset 
it all with ethanol."