Ethanol doesn’t affect livestock market values

A recent Associated Press story talks about how some in the livestock industry want to change the Renewable Fuel Standard. They think it will drive down the price of corn used as feed. As a corn farmer, I see the value of the ethanol industry. It's not good just for farmers like me, but it helps rural economies, energy independence and the environment.

According to a study by Texas A&M University, net cash farm incomes for some livestock operations have increased since the RFS was expanded.

Increased ethanol production has not negatively impacted the profitability of key livestock markets.

We corn farmers have had a very challenging year, but we still harvested one of the largest corn crops ever, enough for all uses with corn to spare. Now, the price of December corn on the futures market is down almost $2 per bushel from this summer. Criticizing high corn prices or trying to keep them artificially low makes no sense.

Al Schafbuch

Dysart