Ethanol Demands Prompt Record Corn Harvest
July 02, 2007

Demand for corn-based ethanol for vehicles has led to American farmers planting more corn than since the waning days of World War II, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture report cited by an Associated Press story.

Farmers are expected to harvest 93 million acres of corn this year, up 19 percent from 2006 and well above the March estimate of 90.5 million acres.

The increased demand for corn to be converted to ethanol has led to high demand -- thus higher prices -- for corn. Economists surveyed by the Wall Street Journal this month increasingly are worried about inflation, caused by higher energy and food prices (especially milk and corn-fed beef) stymieing economic growth.

Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:03 AM under News , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | Seed Newsvine