On 4/21/2014 8:18 AM, dpb wrote:
On 4/20/2014 7:58 PM, Gunner Asch wrote:
...

In 2000, over 90% of the U.S. corn crop went to feed people and
livestock, ...


What, specifically, is "the U.S. corn crop"?

USDA figures for MY 2000/2001 show total production of 9915 MMBu w/
total "disappearance" (difference between ending stocks on hand at
beginning to ending of year, including all use plus wastage, loss in
transit, etc., etc., etc., ...) of 9740 MMBu. Food, alcohol &
industrial was 1958 while feed and residual was 5822. Thus including
all human food use as well as alcohol and industrial and animal feed and
residuals (everything, iow, excepting for seed) is only 78% of
production. IOW, we had a surplus of roughly 20% of the production,
some of which (about 10%) was accounted for by export.

So there's no way the above 90% is accurate w/o a very careful selection
of what is used for numerator and denominator.

In 2010/2011 things have shifted a little, certainly, but still just
under 90% of all annual production was consumed for everything excepting
seed and about 50% is in the food, alcohol and industrial category.

I don't have a finer breakdown at hand easily, but production can easily
outpace demand at the moment and would do so more even more rapidly if
demand were to continue to swell.

On the side note the earlier responder's comment on the
subsidy--that ended December a year ago and even when in effect it
didn't go to the alcohol producer or the grower, it went to the oil
companies/distributors--they're the "blenders" in the "blenders' credit".

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