Why is it that when our government sticks its nose in something we all end up paying ‘thru-the-nose’ for it.

Take corn, for instance. I’ve been heating my house with corn for three years. I buy my corn from local farmers in the area for the same price that they sell it to the grain mills. The first season (‘05/’06) corn sold for $1.70/bushel. The price rose through the winter, as it usual does, and reached $2.20/bushel. Corn has been in this range for the last 30 years.

This is where our government decides that we need an alternative to gasoline and comes to our rescue with ethanol. Ethanol is moonshine which is made from corn. E-85 at the fuel pumps. 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline. The problem is it takes the energy of 3 bushels of corn to process 4 bushels of corn. Not very economical is it? So now our leaders have to subsidize the ethanol plants to make it very, very lucrative to build plants to produce this fuel.

So why use corn? Because our farmers already have the equipment and it would be even more expensive to replace the machinery to grow sawgrass or sugarbeets that would produce more ethanol at a lower cost. Sugarcane is by far one of the best crops, but our climate is not suitable to grow it here.

Last season (‘06/’07) corn started at $3.50 and climbed to $4.00/bushel. Did you notice a jump in prices for dairy and meat products? Cows and chickens eat corn you know. Also ethanol hit the streets and around here almost every Kroger grocery store has it at their fuel pumps for FlexFuel vehicles. How much extra did you pay so your vehicle can use this FlexFuel?

This year corn started at $3.50 and is up to $5.00 as I write this. You think food prices were bad before? Wait till you hear this. Next years crop is being pre-sold for $5.00/bushel. Better stock up on meat and dairy products now before the price goes up even further.

exactly...ethanol is not a replacement for gas, i have tried to warn fords big wigs (i do some of their AV for their houses here in MI). don't forget the 25%-35% hit on fuel economy. for barely a 10% reduction in cost.
what it comes down to is multi leveled.

we have to have fast cars
we wanna have big cars
we wanna haul things (sometimes)
we wanna flex our 'coolness' with out extravagant vehicles:hummers , escalades, etc.
smaller cars, car pooling, public transportation can relive some demand.
urban sprawl needs to stop. government head turning needs to stop as well (but we all know that wont happen)


EXXON had another RECORD year by the way

The price of corn has risen due to farm welfare (subsidies). If it costs a farmer three dollars to produce a bushel of corn that he can sell for no more than two dollars, well, you don't need to be a mathematician to figure that out. Enter: The government and the ethanol program. Suddenly there is a high demand for corn which has caused a spike in bushel pricing and turning corn back in to a cash crop. Soybeans are still priced well but when bio-diesel becomes the rage...... watch out. So as far as your corn burning stove goes, convert it to wood. Corn prices will not be going down. Waste oil furnaces are not worth it anymore either. Corn stoves that sold for a couple thousand dollars here can now be had for cattle fodder. Pun intended.

Trivee, in my work I drive a small truck and carry a lot of cargo. I'm sorry to say that we don't build a fuel efficient truck in this country so I had to go the Mercedes route and buy a Sprinter. Double the fuel mileage and loads better creature comforts. It'll be here in a couple of weeks.

Zap, there was an article in the local paper stating that subsidies had gone down, but all the other ingredients like fertilizer and weed control and fuel had gone up, making it harder for small farmers to turn a profit.

Even at the current price corn is still cheaper then fuel oil or propane. Next year I plan to use wood pellets instead of corn. As for the waste oil, I get all I can use free.

The government has ALWAYS bailed out the farmer. Wiki farm subsidies. Man, if I had access to used oil I wouldn't be paying for pellets! The oil furnaces are quite expensive though. Good luck!