When we think of the term “corn fed” we often think of some fine U. S. beef. Well now you can think music, as in, Shannon Brown’s new album and title track. Shannon is an Iowa native and Nashville artist who performed last week at the opening of the VeraSun Charles City, IA ethanol plant. Here in this picture she’s …
Not the Gummy Bears! And Beer too?
The latest food industries to blame ethanol for rising prices are German beer brewers and gummy bear makers, according to this article from Spiegel International. Iowa State University’s Center for Agriculture and Rural Development (CARD) asks the question, Do Biofuels Mean Inexpensive Food Is a Thing of the Past? To answer that, CARD says knowing how U.S. consumers spend their …
Conservation Critical for Corn
“Conventional tillage is no longer conventional,” says Kyle Nickel with the Conservation Technology Information Center. “It’s a thing of the past.” That’s a quote in this week’s American Farm Bureau Federation editorial by Anne Keller, AFBF Director of Issues Management. She writes: In fact, a county-by-county crop residue management survey by the CTIC shows only about 33 percent of all …
Year of Corn
The theme of the 2007 Indiana State Fair is “The Year of Corn” and the Indianapolis Star agrees, according to today’s editorial. “More than a grain of truth carried in corn bandwagon” is the headline and it reads in part: Visitors to the Indiana State Fair are getting no end of visual, audible, tactile and gustatory reminders of the importance …
Corn Blogs
Now that Corn Commentary is up and running I thought it might be interesting to Google around for other corn blogs. I found some interesting sites including some with corn in the name but not about the kind of corn we’re talking about here. Here’s a few you might be interested in: Velma’s Wicked Delicious Kettle Corn (self explanatory) UseCorn …
Consumer Federation Report Gets Little Attention
At the end of last month, the Consumer Federation of America came out with a report that basically says oil companies are holding up the expansion of ethanol. However, “Big Oil vs Ethanol” has received virtually no press coverage. Interesting. CFA is an advocacy, research, education, and service organization that has been around since 1968 and is credible enough that …
Popcorn Poppycock
I know Chuck already did a post on the Iowa “Popcorn Propaganda” event, but here are my thoughts to add, along with another picture. This is Iowa Corn Promotion Board intern Paul Brees with the fruits of his six hours of labor - 38.5 pounds of popcorn. The purpose of Paul’s popping project was to point out to the press …
What he said … Johanns Meets the Press Club
It was inevitable that when Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns spoke at the National Press Club on July 27 someone would ask about ethanol. The transcript says it all: QUESTION: Corn-based ethanol may help the nation reduce its dependence on foreign oil, but critics say that ethanol costs almost as much as the energy it produces. Isn’t corn-based ethanol a wasteful …