March 9, 2007

US drafts recommendations to avert possible corn crisis

In the wake of the increasing corn prices due to explosion of the ethanol industry, the US National Chicken Council (NCC) and North Carolina Poultry Federation had several recommendations to avert a possible corn crisis. They include:

• Permit non-environmentally sensitive cropland in USDA's Conservation Reserve Program to be released without penalty and loss of program benefits;
   
• Permit non-environmentally sensitive cropland in the Conservation Reserve Program to produce grain and oilseed crops if the harvest is designated for use to produce bio-energy;
   
• Provide that any new mandates for renewable fuel standard should be sourced from bio-based materials (such as cellulosic)
   
• material or methane) that do not adversely impact the availability of animal feed;
   
• USDA should prepare and have ready an effective plan of action in the event of a shortfall in a corn crop for the next few years;
   
• Provide for counter cyclical subsidies for ethanol so that as the price of crude oil goes up, the subsidy for ethanol goes down;
   
• Provide an effective waiver to reduce or eliminate the renewable fuel

standard when economic conditions, especially for animal agriculture, so warrant;

• Allow the US import duty on ethanol to expire as scheduled on December 31, 2008; and
   
• Increase funding and support for projects that will result in methods that permit greater use of dried distiller grains with soluble (DDGS) for feeding single-stomach animals, such as poultry.

Tyson Foods executive Matthew Herman said increasing domestic production of energy is a "very worthy goal," but one that must be pursued in a "reasonable and rational way".

Herman said the current approach of corn and grains for ethanol poses risks and without adequate safeguards, the future of US animal agriculture may be put in jeopardy.

The National Chicken Council represents integrated chicken producer- processors, the companies that produce process and market chickens. Member companies of NCC account for approximately 95 percent of the chicken sold in the United States. On the other hand, the North Carolina Poultry Federation represents poultry producers and processors in North Carolina.