Remember all those news reports about the explosion in food costs in 2008? I distinctly recall one farmer saying the local news reported that the price of popcorn at the movie theater was going up because so the price of corn was so high. Ignorance aside, there were a lot of reports about how many households had fallen to poverty levels due to rising food costs. It turns out many of these reports were over exaggerated. According to a report published by University of Illinois&rsquo…

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In the course of a week, I’ve heard the old “subsidies drive our corn planting decisions” argument on a two separate instances. I’m not buying it for several reasons. First, I’ve visited numerous Illinois farmers. And, they are darn good at growing corn. Rows are perfectly straight, there’s not a weed to be found and yields consistently top 200 bushels per acre. Next, have you checked a corn price lately? Today, the nearby futures price jumped over…

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Enforce: (v.) to compel observance or obedience to. As an adjective, the term is enforceable, i.e. the law is enforceable. Apparently, lawmakers and regulatory agencies need a little education in this concept. In discussing transportation secretary Ray LaHood’s for-hire initiative, it appears the Department of Transportation forgot to ask the old “is this regulation/law enforceable” question. A new interpretation from the Federal DOT would require farmers to be…

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Most experts predict the ethanol industry will hit the blend wall within the next year or so. At this point, ethanol plant capacity will exceed the amount needed to blend 10% ethanol into all of our nation's fuel. To continue an upward trend in corn demand for the industry, groups are pushing legislators to mandate additional ethanol production. Until recently, all of these groups were pushing for an increase in the minimum ethanol blend from 10% to 15%. Growth Energy bucked the trend on…

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During the University of Illinois' Farm Economics Summit, economist Paul Ellinger didn't exactly spread holiday cheer.   Ellinger was the last speaker during the sessions, which were held in various Illinois locations last week. Ellinger spoke about the recession, essentially saying that hey, we're still in trouble here.   He started by pointing out the unemployment rate, which fell to 10% in November. However, it's still at 10%! In November 2007, it was 5.3%. Ellinger also pointed out that…

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