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Ethanol-driven feed costs cut U.S. meat output: USDA »

Posted by: TechnologyExpert 2 years, 8 months ago

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High feed costs, created by the explosive growth of the fuel ethanol industry, will lower U.S. beef and broiler chicken output this year by a quarter billion lbs from earlier forecasts, the U.S. government said on Friday.

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Comments: 5

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nostalgia
March 12, 2007, 7:29 a.m.
Looks like the "law of unintended consequences"
As the output of beef and chicken falls, prices will go up. More pressure on the middle and lower classes as the prices rise.
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violetknight
March 12, 2007, 10:06 a.m.
Slaughter 100 million cows, it will decrease their methane and carbon dioxide production the same as if we got rid of 10 million cars. Everyone knows that cows are a principal source of greenhouse gases.
Do this worldwide, and kill 1 billion cows. Nature never ever intended there to be so many cows living in feedlots. Cows compete with humans for food.
Killing that many cows will have the secondary bonus of reducing demand for corn and grains, lowering prices for poor people to eat, also it will increase the amount of grain that can be used for ethanol production, helping cut the greenhouse effect even more.
Pigs should go too, massive pig factories pollute the air, ground water and surface water.
Avg rating: (+6/-1 5)
hecuba
March 12, 2007, 11:52 a.m.
I am no agricultural expert, but with the wide variety of organic material which could be used to make ethanol or other atlternative fuels...wouldn't it make sense to plant more and varied crops..to satisfy this need?
Also Violet does have a bit of a point with the cow out-gassing issue...however, eventhough man has cultivated the bovine as a food product in ever increasing numbers...the animal populations including the American Buffalo and others have been massing on the Great American Plains for thousands of years....I think Mother Nature can handle that.
Finally, during the transition from oil or coal based to alternative or non-polluting energy systems, there will naturally be difficulties which will have to be worked out....especially if we reduce (or eliminate) our dependence on fossil fuel in the course of the rest of our everyday lives.
I prefer to keep a positive 'can-do' rather than an 'it's too hard...so it won't work' attitude.
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Shankari25
March 27, 2007, 9:53 p.m.
Ah. We might have to be vegetarian. . . I can't wait until a big mac costs $20. About time.