I’m wondering how much corn there is available for feed with everything going on. If ethanol plants aren’t making any, then there’s less of the “waste” product to put into/make feed for the meat industry. I don’t know, but isn’t the “waste” product used in feed for poultry, beef, and pork? Then there’s the over-all reduction in harvest, which has occurred over the past couple years. Which I’d include all the grain destroyed in flooding and such as a reduction in harvest. It never entered the food-chain, even if the farmer got something for the loss. Since we’re in a solar minimum cycle, we can expect shorter growing seasons, which will likely reduce the harvest for a few years.

On the one hand we have less available for the market, the possibility for another year with less being produced, but with the economy crawling, there’s less consumption and use, which seem to combine to lower the price. Am I seeing that right?

Is this somehow combining to affect the meat industry?

Might depend on how big the herd size ends up being here soon.

Most of the ethanol corn by-product goes to beef and dairy and is eaten wet if possible as to lower drying costs. That is one reason why several plants have been located near to larger feed lots or areas with larger dairies. The pork and poultry industry utilized less and also more of it is the dry form which increases costs. Due to the nature of the product there are limitations on intake so that animals remain healthy and gain appropriately. The fact that corn is not being used for ethanol does not mean there is less potential corn for feeding purposes, it is just in its normal #2 dry shell corn form. As to saying yields were down considerably the last two years that is not a fact. Yields were down but not substantially and thus with current situations and usage there is way more corn than all the markets can use and other nations like Brazil, Argentina etc. are increasing corn production as well. Before ethanol the livestock industry fed more #2 shell corn. With an early planting season this year compared to the last two years in several areas, more corn will likely be planted. Estimates are 92-96 million acres and with typical yield per acre trends production is estimated to be very high historically speaking and the futures markets are showing that by offering very low prices at this time. The corn market is so poor right now that it is impacting the wheat market . There were worries about a big loss in last years corn crop from a production and quality and fungi aspect but most of those fears were not realized. Here in WI a lot of ethanol was dried as we don't have the beef feed lot industry like they do in NE, KS, IA etc. and that adds cost but allows for fitting into different rations. What we are seeing in eastern WI right now if variable winter injury in alfalfa which will add a lot of cost to dairy farms this spring and also increase the forage shortage that started last summer.

Bryce

Bryce

Most of the corn grown here on the shore is use for feed here on the shore.