Beer, Birds, and Corn

Will the rush to produce ethanol raise the price of beer?

This scares me,

A high demand for corn-based ethanol has many farmers devoting more fields to their corn crop and less to barley.

[hat tip Amateur Economist and Curmudgeon Blog]

I've read several stories lately about the impact that the production of corn-based ethanol will have on the environment and economy. In fact, I blogged on a related topic last summer.

Some say it will destroy habitat. Farmers who used to be subsidized for not planting crops (thus encouraging native plants and bird/animal habitat) may now put their land back into production as the demand (and price) of corn rises.

In the past year surging production of ethanol has nearly doubled the value of corn—to more than $3 a bushel. At that price, net income of more that $200 per acre for Iowa farmers begins looking good in comparison with the $100 per acre typically paid through the federal Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). Now, says Brian Moore, Audubon’s assistant director of government relations, “farmers have to decide whether they should jump on the corn bandwagon.”

Here's another interesting piece from the Audubon folks:

But the reformulated-gasoline program has turned out to be a colossal failure, and the ethanol industry has transmogrified into a sacrosanct, pork-swilling behemoth that gets bigger and hungrier with each feeding. Ethanol dirties the air more than it cleans it. Its production requires vast plantings of corn, which wipe out fish and wildlife by destroying habitat and polluting air, soil, and water. Of all crops grown in the United States, corn demands the most massive fixes of herbicides, insecticides, and chemical fertilizers, while creating the most soil erosion.

Just added an item to my to-do list: Buy beer - NOW!