US Government Okays Reduced Ethanol Output in 2014

" We may not like the health or environmental toll it will take over time."

Recently the United States government has authorized the reduced output of the gasoline additive, ethanol from US stocks for the year 2014, citing reduced support for the program which the Congress passed in 2007 to reduce dependence on foreign oil and to (ostensibly) improve the quality of air in the continental United States. However with the droughts of 2011 and 2012, public outcry over the use of important food grains such as corn for fuel has caused some to rethink this issue.

In a twist of marketing, on November 15 the United States  Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said it would propose reducing the 2014 mandate for blending gasoline with corn-based ethanol to between 12.7 billion and 13.2 billion gallons, down from the current legislated mandate for next year of 14.4 billion gallons. This reduction would be about 500 million bushels, with one bushel of corn producing about 2.8 gallons of ethanol. Ethanol has less available energy output per gallon than petroleum based fuels.

Meanwhile over at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), in its November World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates, projects 4,900 million bushels of corn may go into ethanol production in the 2014 fiscal year. But some analysts also suggest the lower ethanol mandate may have less of an impact on corn demand than indicated by the market’s reaction.
They note that recent low corn prices have spurred ethanol production as margins have improved to at least $1.00 a gallon. Several ethanol facilities that have been out of service for months now have been brought back into production recently. If the current market conditions hold, ethanol production and thus corn demand would remain strong-- with excess ethanol output likely to be targeted for export, analysts predict.

In the twisting, turning ways of inter-governmental agencies, two competing statements are now made: From the environmental side, the EPA, there have been several important, unintended consequences of the ethanol legislation noted, the first of which is taking food from people in need around the world and converting it to ethanol (a type of grain alcohol) to burn in cars while some around the world starve in drought years, as recently experienced in the United States. Additionally there are the issues of deforestation, loss of native species' habitat and soil erosion to name a few.
Joel of the Bible warned in ancient days,

"The field is devastated;

the farmland mourns,

Because the grain is devastated,

the wine has dried up,

the oil has failed.

Be appalled, you farmers!"

 Joel 1:10-11

And based on rosy forecasting by the USDA, and in a resulting effort to make more profit, many farmers are cutting and eliminating any and all forested areas to create more land for growing crops. This activity takes no consideration about how big or small the wood lots are or have been.
It leads to an overall reduction in oxygen producing foliage and the loss of habitat for native species of animals. There is increased tillage of prairie lands, land once idle and evironmentally balanced.
In addition the now increased plantings adds to soil erosion due to tillage, and the increased pressure for use of chemicals required for intense farming practices--everything from fertilizers and pesticides, fungicides and herbicides.

The American farmer by and large is no friend to the environment. They are driven by profit motives and are unlikely to change their habits until there is lack of profit to continue.The "family farmer" is figured into this equally.  It is up to the average person to be the call for the end to ethanol production in this country. Without knowledge, the 98 per cent of Americans (who have minimal to no contact with food production) remain idle while profit motives urge farmers into unsustainable agricultural practices. This call goes beyond supporting local sourced food, beyond "slow food" and beyond community gardens.

The two percent who produce for the other 98 per cent have their pocketbooks front and center; we may not like the health or environmental toll it will take over time. Urge best practices in farming, practices that preserve air, soil and water quality; practices that provide food for the most in a way that protects wildlife and creates a cleaner future for all.

Ethanol Drought

"Some of the drought’s impact will take months and years to play out." Roger Oliver, president and chief executive officer of Van Horn Inc

The US crop for year 2012 is a disaster; corn and soybeans are the major crops produced nationwide. The critical factor that many academics, ordinary consumers and other non agricultural policy makers did not give sufficient account for in their rosy analysis is nature. Yes, some years produce more crop volume and some produce less; this year is severe drought. It seems that the prospect of drought is not accounted for in the current plans for carbon emissions reduction in this country. What good is the buying and selling of carbon credits or reducing "greenhouse emissions" in a food stressed world?

The issue is that the current United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) policy mandates an ever increasing percentage of fuel for gasoline engines be composed of ethanol, a non petroleum based substitute for refined gasoline made in this nation principally with corn; it is set to gobble up the majority of that crop in this drought year. It will leave insufficient supply to feed livestock, to feed chickens who produce eggs, to produce grain related products that consumers routinely use: baked goods, oils, syrups, starches, and industrial products made from corn and soybeans.

Compounding the pain is the synonymous hay crop failure. There is now insufficient supplies of hay to feed all grazing animals throughout North America, including the cows which provide the nation's milk supply and other products such as infant formula or "grass fed" beef. For many of us here in the United States, a look around our communities at the lawn grasses gone dormant or dead provides the confirmation that grass grown to feed animals must be no better. Nor is using grasses to produce motor fuel any better an option; it produces hardship on and off the farm; families will suffer from lack of food due to the fact that the agricultural oligarchy (AO) hasn't produced this year. The nation's unemployed, the indigent, the sick and the elderly will all experience increasing food insecurity due to a rise in prices for many foodstuffs and fuels. Everyone will pay more. The nation's health suffers as more consume lower priced, lower quality foods. All foods, including fruits, vegetables and grains like oats or wheat, require quantities of water for a successful crop.

For the nearly 98 percent of Americans who don't, won't or can't produce at least part of their food, we must now consider whether we have thrown over a primary responsibility for feeding ourselves to the agricultural few: the many university intellectuals (who also don't produce their own food), politicians, the governmental policy wonks and the AO -- even those "family farmers" with millions of dollars invested in their farms.

Have we fallen complacent, asleep at the wheel, about agriculture in this country-- so far removed that not only do we not grow any food, but we don't even think about it?
 We've left it to others to decide for us because maybe we live in urban areas and have no direct connection to the source. Even those of us residing in the country towns, large and small, have in large measure, let the issue to someone else. Is now in this time of natural disaster the time that we will wake up and become more engaged in food and its production?

Will the EPA continue its drive to consume well more than half of the US crop this year so as to produce ethanol? People and animals are suffering and we're putting what was to be food in our gas tanks? How does that happen? It seems we've unknowingly mandated it at the expense of feeding ourselves and parts of the starving world. Waiting until a better year is still a year away. And I don't know of any mortal who can wait a year to get enough to eat. We must act now, in this election year and beyond to engage the population in a better long term solution for this perilous issue, both for food production and a cleaner environment. Gaining knowledge and educating others is the first step because food must not be sacrificed for other goals.