January 30, 2009
US corn farmers hoping for improved stimulus plan
More should be done in the US$819 billion economic stimulus plan to ease the credit crunch pressure on US corn farmers, according to industry sources.
The world credit crisis is threatening corn farmers' margins, especially now that the ethanol industry, one of their biggest clients, is now in trouble.
The plan should include credit guarantees as the banking industry is unwilling to provide it, said Mark Lambert with the Illinois Corn Growers Association.
Lambert said stimulus funding for lock and dam improvements for grain transport on the Upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers would provide instant economic stimulus.
However, funding in the stimulus package for those projects has been blocked, said Lambert.
