Dear Egg Buyer,

The cost of our feed is going up, and up, and up! Our mixed feed has gone up 49% Our percentage of increase from 2006 to 2008 was the following:
Corn 85%
Wheat 102%
Layer Feed 49%
Diesel 57%

What is Ethanol?

I never knew about ethanol until recently. You get oil and nitrogen and you can get fuel from corn. Right now, 20% of the corn crop in the U.S. is being used for ethanol. The three biggest companies producing ethanol are POET, Archer Daniels Midland, and VeraSun. Some U.S. farmers have their own ethanol companies.

Dr. David Pimentel of Cornell

There are great problems with corn. Just last week, Dr. David Pimentel, Professor of Ecology and Agricultural Sciences, talked to us. He is one of the world's experts on ethanol concerning corn. At present, the U.S. uses a total of about 333 billion gallons of oil. If some of the farmers and some companies want to use 40% of the corn crop in the U.S. for ethanol, that would only be 4% of the U.S. gas needs. Why bother for ethanol? Also, just to produce one gallon of ethanol, you need 1.4 gallons of gasoline (equivalent energy). That is awful!

Dr. Pimentel Points Out Corn

Corn is the crop with the worst impact on soil erosion. Corn production requires a greater quantity of insecticides and herbicides than other crops. Corn is the crop that uses the most nitrogen fertilizer. The nitrogen leaking from corn production down the Mississippi into the Gulf of Mexico is the cause of 'The Dead Zone' which is the size of New Jersey. This 'Dead Zone' has a huge decrease in fish life and plant life.

What Will Happen?

The percentage of corn crops for ethanol will go higher. Government subsidies of $6 billion will be higher. In addition, about 70% of corn is fed to animals. We can't stop using the corn for animals to use it for ethanol instead. We, The Country Hen, will tell our customers that some of these businesses are not telling the truth. We will pass on some price increase, but we cannot turn over the entire increase to our customers.

For those at the Country Hen,

George S. Bass