Corn prices; where do we go from here?
Dr Paul Aho recently gave an interesting talk on the possible consequences of increasing use of corn for ethanol production in USA on the poultry industry all around the world. He mentioned that “a central argument for the move to ethanol is based on the desire to be less dependent on imported oil, and eventually, on oil in general.
During the recent Poultry Science Association annual meeting in San Antonio, Texas (July 2007), there was an interesting talk by Dr Paul Aho on the possible consequences of increasing use of corn for ethanol production in USA on the poultry industry all around the world.
He mentioned that “a central argument for the move to ethanol is based on the desire to be less dependent on imported oil, and eventually, on oil in general. Ethanol does make us less dependent on imported oil. That reduced dependence, however, comes at a cost. Feed grain prices are significantly higher.”.
Expansion of the US ethanol sector has significant effects on the agricultural sector. The corn market is affected directly by the increase in ethanol production (from corn). Corn used to produce ethanol rises rapidly over the next several years.
I. Do you think that high corn prices can act as a strong stimulus for importing countries to increase their domestic production of corn?
II. Do you think that inclusion of distillers grains (by product of ethanol production from corn) into poultry diets can become a common practice? What are the possible limitations?
III. How do you see short- and long-term effects of this policy on your poultry industry including total cost of production and consumers’ access to poultry meat and eggs as cheap and healthy sources of protein?
Let’s share our opinions/experiences here.
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