Phoenix Associates Land Syndicate (fka PBLSQ)

[golfgame1]

The Big Downside of Ethanol
Wisner says so many farmers now are planting corn that it's tightening supplies of other crops. Prices of soybeans, another component of animal feed, have jumped 41 percent since September. Soybeans are in more demand as a biofuel too. The Agriculture Department estimates that 13 percent of U.S. soybean oil in 2007 will be used for biodiesel, an alternative fuel derived from vegetable oils.

Webster City, Iowa, pig farmer Gene Gourley isn't happy about the extra competition for his main feedstock. Feed makes up 60 percent of the costs at the farm where he and his brothers raise 60,000 pigs a year. He says their typical profit is $3.50 per pig, yet they're spending $18 more to feed each one. "It doesn't take rocket science to see we just went into the red substantially