R1200RS + R1250RS Forum
Print view
Sat Jun 04, 2022 11:28 pm
|
Everyone's favorite fuel additive is back in the news again. An article written by David Pitt of the Associated Press and published in my newspaper today is titled : "EPA raises amount of ethanol that must be blended with gas". What really caught my attention was a statement in the article that ethanol blended fuel consumes more than 40% of the U.S. corn production. Is it really worth it to dilute gasoline with ethanol if it cuts into a source of food to such an extent, considering the state of the world's food production this year?
Current motorcycle collection: 2002 Yamaha FZ1; 2020 KTM 390 Duke; 2011 Royal Enfield Bullet 500; 2009 BMW F650GS; 2016 BMW R1200RS; 2018 Zero S 16.6 kWh
|
|
reply
|
Hi Richard, |
|
Zitat von Richard230 im Beitrag #1 Richard, How much field corn have you eaten in your life? Excluding breakfast cereal, I'll bet darn little. Field corn is primarily a high energy animal feed for rapid weight gain. The wholesale price of ethanol is $2.16 per gallon. The wholesale price of gasoline is East Coast (NY) $4.36, Gulf Coast $4.23 and West Coast (LA) $4.57. $3.09 worth of Ethanol (1.4-gallons) will provide the same heat energy as $4.23~4.57 worth of gasoline. Which are you going to buy? 2018-us-land use map.png - Bild entfernt (keine Rechte)
Old Forum Orphan
|
|
|
Last year in Iowa 57% of field corn was used for ethanol production. Lee |
|
|
Well, I don't know one type of corn for another. Except that I have been eating corn on the cob for the past two weeks when I was able to buy it at Safeway for 15 cents a cob. However, it still seems to me that you could plant sweet corn, or whatever is editable corn, instead of corn used to make ethanol and sell that on the open market for food. I assume that the corn types that are processed into ethanol and not usable for food, are being done so because ethanol production is subsidized by the government and generates more profit for everyone in the ethanol supply and production business and thereby is more profitable than growing corn for food. Considering the current state of food production in the world that just doesn't seem right to me.
Current motorcycle collection: 2002 Yamaha FZ1; 2020 KTM 390 Duke; 2011 Royal Enfield Bullet 500; 2009 BMW F650GS; 2016 BMW R1200RS; 2018 Zero S 16.6 kWh
|
|
Zitat von Richard230 im Beitrag #5 Richard, Ever visit Europe and notice how much corn (maize) they eat? Not much. It's hog feed and only the really poor eat from the animal feed bins in the barn. Maize is a New World crop, it's not part of native diets outside of the Americas. So, dumping tons of it in Africa or wherever isn't going to feed a lot of people. The American farmers will respond to the market, growing the crops that bring the highest profit. And, the US government will support them with crop insurance. Considering that $3.09 of ethanol will provide the same energy as $4.20 to $4.60 gasoline, I buying ethanol to run your vehicles, then sending $1.10~1.50 to a food relief program.
Old Forum Orphan
|
|
|
|
Economics will always drive farming. On my travels in the UK & France I noticed many more rapeseed (canola) fields last month, as they were flowering. The Ukraine has supplied a huge proportion of vegetable oil used in Europe so there is already a shortage in supermarkets due to consumers panic buying. We also use a lot of diesel which has an increasing bio content so the price has escalated meaning UK & French farmers will have a bumper year.
Spam goes here
|
|
Here corn is grown primarily to feed dairy cows. Antidotal evidence from a dairy farmer who leases some of my land is that they are cutting back on corn the last several years as they have come to realize corn is rough on the soil nutrients and cost of additives while being very efficinet in harvest costs as a bulk feed. The more progressive dairy farmers a moving back towards grass fed cows for the best milk chemistry, soil loss, and other expenses. My field has not been in corn for several years now. |
|
|
|
Zitat von Vtbob im Beitrag #8 same here, with many dairy herds aiming for grass (including preserved grass such as hay & silage) only. Keeps the input costs down but also results in better dairy and beef products. Some are keeping the herd indoors and mowing fresh grass which is brought into the byre to feed the cattle. Apparently they can get more grass per hectare if they do not allow the cattle to trample all over the fields. Dairy herds tend to be a lot smaller in the UK so this can work at that scale.
Spam goes here
|
|
With the consolidation of the Milk processors in the mid-Atlantic region, many small to medium size dairy farms have switched to grain production or stopped farming. As an animal feed, barley requires less fertilizer and is more digestible than corn, but is sensitive to temperature variations during the growing season.
Old Forum Orphan
|
|
Zitat von Lee im Beitrag #4 But ethanol production should raise the price of livestock feed, which raises the price of food.
2020 R1250RS
|
|
Zitat von Richard230 im Beitrag #5 Even before ethanol Iowa did not plant much sweet corn or any other vegetables. California is a big producer of vegetables.
Lee
2022 R1250RS White Sport Iowa, USA |
|
|
I guess the production of ethanol and its use as a fuel is more complicated than I would have thought.
Current motorcycle collection: 2002 Yamaha FZ1; 2020 KTM 390 Duke; 2011 Royal Enfield Bullet 500; 2009 BMW F650GS; 2016 BMW R1200RS; 2018 Zero S 16.6 kWh
|
|
|
Not really. The Ag markets have been depressed since the tariff disputes in 2017 and later. As a result, 30% of farm income has been federal subsidies for a number of years.
Old Forum Orphan
|
|
