Growth Energy: Crop report is last word in "food versus fuel" debate

by | Oct 13, 2014 | News

WASHINGTON – While eagerly awaited by futures analysts, USDA’s monthly world agriculture supply and demand estimates (WASDE) reports can be a little dry. However, if ethanol advocate Growth Energy is to be believed, last Friday’s WASDE report has laid the “food versus fuel” myth to rest.

In general, figures in the October WASDE report are followed only by minor revisions, meaning that this year’s production is likely to break last year’s record. Notably corn stocks are projected at the highest level since 2004, which Growth Energy argues will pressure corn and other cereal prices into the future. Corn used to produce ethanol, distiller?s grains and other co-products is projected at 5.125 billion bushels, while corn consumption for feed is estimated at 5.375 billion bushels, according to USDA.

Globally, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations has reported that its international food price index is down six percent over last year; FAO noted that grain prices were down nearly nine percent since 2013, while meat prices are nearly 22 percent higher than a year ago.

?The current WASDE projections and recent reports from the FAO. . . confirm that there is virtually no correlation between U.S. ethanol production and consumer food prices,? said Growth Energy CEO Tom Buis in a statement. ?In report after report, we see that the American farmer can produce an abundant amount of food and fuel. It is clear that the food and fuel myth is completely unfounded and does a great disservice to the hardworking men and women that help feed the world and fuel our nation.”