Food or Fuel

Keynote: The Food Police [video], Dr. Jayson Lusk (Purdue University)
From the 2022 Iowa Pork Congress, held January 26 - 27, 2022, Des Moines, IA, USA.

Paragon Economics Dr. Steve Meyer walks through meat demand, corn prices ($4-$8??) and weather issues.

The total feed supply is going down. Long term we need to get more efficient or we get smaller. Can we get efficient enough to that we can grow with a shrinking supply of energy feed?

Dr. Meyer also looks into the ethanol industry, how it fared in 2011 and what it may do in 2012, with respect to their need for corn inputs.

SwineCast 0327 Show Notes:

You’ve no doubt heard the ethanol policy slogan, “Food or Fuel” to describe the tradeoff between using traditional feedstuffs for energy production vs. feed for livestock and the hundreds of other food products made from corn. In China, we now have the first major world economy deciding that containing food prices is more important than creating fuel from corn. The restriction recently put in place prohibits additional expansion of ethanol production from corn but allows it from grasses, corn stalks and other agricultural products which would not affect the price of food. Existing plants using corn are currently grandfathered in.