Blame Those Darn Farmers!

In a press conference on April 16, National Farmers Union President Roger Johnson with other corn industry groups discussed a recently released Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report dealing with the economic and environmental impact of ethanol.

"The CBO report states what we have known all along, America's farmers are not a significant reason for increasing grocery store prices," Johnson said. "The report states that increased ethanol production caused a mere 0.5 and 0.8 percentage point increase in the price of food between April 2007 and April 2008."

Mr. Johnson went on to cite statistics that indicate that consumers actually save between $5.00 and $8.00 in gasoline costs for every extra dollar spent on food because of the increased supply of fuel provided by ethanol.

Johnson also pointed to research that shows that an average small box of corn flakes continue to cost $2.99; the “farmer’s share” is approx $.06, or less than 2%. The “NFU is again calling for Congress to reconvene hearings to investigate higher retail food prices; while commodity prices have tanked since last summer’s peak, grocery store prices remain high.”

With commodity prices being extremely low in recent months, I have to ask the question, why haven’t food prices retreated? The answer is simple. The profit taking was/is being done by the food producers and resellers. This is a clear example of a well orchestrated marketing maneuver to raise prices, reduce portion sizes, and increase profits. -All the while they are while blaming the hard working farmer down the road.

Check this out: Here is a short audio clip of from the press conference. (it is only 3:21 long)

(Archive) My Previous Posts on the Ethanol Topic

http://blog.alextiller.com/_bpost_2729/I_Have_Realized_the_Error_of_My_Ways

http://blog.alextiller.com/BlogRetrieve.aspx?BlogID=2729&PostID=54365

http://blog.alextiller.com/_bpost_2729/Kudos_to_Iowa_Senator_Grassley_for_his_response_to_Texas_Governor_Perry’s_Ethanol_Waiver_Request

http://blog.alextiller.com/_bpost_2729/Let’s_Point_some_Fingers_and_Lay_Some_Blame

http://blog.alextiller.com/BlogRetrieve.aspx?BlogID=2729&PostID=54385

http://blog.alextiller.com/BlogRetrieve.aspx?BlogID=2729&PostID=54395

http://blog.alextiller.com/_bpost_2729/The_Big_Boys_Fight_Back,_Farmers_Sidelined

http://blog.alextiller.com/BlogRetrieve.aspx?BlogID=2729&PostID=54418

http://blog.alextiller.com/_bpost_2729/Support_for_Ethanol_(Not_just_Corn)

http://blog.alextiller.com/_bpost_2729/Farming_Alternative_Fuels