From: "Fred Enga, Astechman" <fenga AT astechman.com>
To: <homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: [Homestead] Ethanol and Corn
Date: Thu, 10 Apr 2008 17:23:06 -0700
In fact the ethanol/corn debate is skewed on the impact of ethanol on corn
supplies
In the United States, 57 percent of the corn crop is fed to animals. The
livestock industry is the corn producers' leading customer. In 2003, beef
cattle were fed more than 1.4 billion bushels of corn, while hogs consumed
1.1 billion bushels and poultry another 1.3 billion bushels.
Eleven percent of U.S. corn production goes into ethanol, while another 19
percent or 1.9 billion bushels is exported. The balance of the crop is used
for food, seed and industrial uses.
Thousands of products are derived from corn. The emerging bioproducts
industry creates new uses for corn and its byproducts. Solvents, cleaners,
deicers and plastics are just a handful of the hundreds of renewable,
cornbased products we use every day.
Corn Refining separates corn into various components - starch, oil, protein
and fiber - and converts it into higher-value products. More than 1.4
billion bushels of corn are refined annually into a wide variety of food,
industrial and feed products.
There is plenty of corn. Stop feeding it to cattle, stop buying the mega
tons of corn syrup sweetened foods.