Green Fields: Brazilians suggest end to U.S. ethanol subsidy

A spokesman for Brazilian ethanol maker Unica responded to the Environmental Protection Agency's decision on Wednesday approving a 15 percent blend for ethanol with regular unleaded gasoline by suggesting that such approval should trigger an end to the 45-cent-per-gallon subsidy for blenders of ethanol in the United States.

Joel Velasco of the Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association said "many U.S. ethanol groups have argued recently that after 30 years of tax credits and trade protection they are ready to compete without subsidies provided the government grants them greater access to America's fuel pumps. With the EPA's decision to increase ethanol limits by 50 percent for newer vehicles, that day has arrived."

The 45-cent subsidy for American ethanol blenders expires at the end of 2010, and U.S. ethanol producers are sweating the extension in Congress.

Brazil does not subsidize its sugarcane-fed ethanol industry. It also allows blends of up to 25 percent in motor vehicles.
Ethanol decision seen as political pandering

Ethanol seems to be more political the farther from the Corn Belt one goes.

The Environmental Protection Agency's decision Wednesday to raise the ethanol blend from 10 to 15 percent for vehicles in the 2007 model year and newer was regarded in Iowa mostly with a yawn since few retailers are considered likely to install the pumping equipment needed until a larger market develops.

The Iowa Corn Growers Association, in fact, expressed some disappointment in the EPA decision because it will affect no more than 30 percent, at most, of gasoline sold in the United States.

The commodity markets weren't impressed. Corn futures, which have risen by 60 percent since June, actually fell for the first time in five trading days on Wednesday despite the EPA announcement.

But with just three weeks to the election, the EPA decision is viewed by the political class as a bid to help Democrats, Gov. Chet Culver in particular.

Read the website Politico's take on the ethanol decision at www.politico.com/news/stories/1010/43567.html.

Politico quotes University of Michigan political scientist Barry Rabe as saying, "This can be seen as one of a series of steps leading up to an important election that could have some benefit for the administration or administration-supported candidates in a few key states or districts."
Corn spike revives food vs. fuel criticism

Opponents of the ethanol industry are seizing on the recent increases in corn prices to argue that Congress should roll back government support for the biofuel industry.

The 45-cent-per-gallon tax credit is due to expire at the end of the year and the ethanol industry is lobbying to get it extended for at least a year when Congress returns for a lame-duck session after the election.

The price of corn, however, has been soaring recently because of the disappointing yields farmers are getting this harvest season. The corn price is at its highest level since 2008, when a price spike led cattle and hog producers to start cutting production. The soaring commodity prices that year also sparked a food-vs.-fuel debate that tarnished the image of the biofuel industry worldwide.

"At some point, the pain of these higher prices will be passed on to the consumer," said Bill Lapp, president of Advanced Economic Solutions, a consulting firm, and a former economist for ConAgra Foods. The impact isn't likely to be significant until next year, he said.

Fluctuations in the price of corn and soybeans have the most direct impact on the cost of meat and dairy products because of the significance of feed costs to livestock producers. The impact of raw commodity prices is much smaller on other food products.

Patrick Boyle of the American Meat Institute, which represents Tyson Foods and other meatpackers, said the result of the spike in corn prices "will likely be higher prices for beef, pork and poultry as producers pass on higher feed costs."
Hertz Farm Management buys Illinois company

Hertz Farm Management Inc. of Nevada has acquired Wirth Ag Services Inc. of Kankakee, Ill., effective Jan. 1.

The Wirth operation will become Hertz's 15th office and further expands its presence in Illinois, adding more than 11,000 acres under management.

Hertz Farm Management specializes in professional farm management, farm real estate sales, real estate auctions, land acquisitions, consulting and farm appraisals throughout the Midwest. Hertz manages more than 500,000 acres of land in Colorado, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wisconsin.
Steak iPhone app helps nervous grillers

If iPhone apps can guide you around a city or give tips on grooming, manners and all other things, why not advice on how to properly grill a steak?

Omaha Steaks, which pioneered the idea of helping people buy steaks without going to the supermarket counter, has an iPhone application to help the nervous steak-griller through the fire.

The application, which of course is downloaded and comes to your phone, gives all kinds of tips and even some videos about how to grill the perfect steak.

But the kicker is a function in the app that allows you to time each steak, from near-raw to well-done, to get that just-right flavor. The app will buzz your phone as you stand over the grill.

Don't take our word for it, read about it at tiny.cc/0xidd.

Omaha Steaks calls the app "Steak Time" and is impressed with what it can do, saying it makes it "easier than ever to make the very best steaks."

Beef people, whose sales put about $5 billion in cash into the Iowa economy each year, have every reason to want to help consumers get just the right, succulent taste in their choice steaks.

Beef consumption is falling at the rate of 1 or 2 percent a year, and the average American eats about one-quarter less beef in a year than a half-century ago.

So if the app can save one griller from a tough, dry steak, then it will be worth it to Omaha Steaks and the rest of the beef industry.

source: desmoinesregister