9-5 IAN Beef Problems

 I think most all beef producers would stand behind me in saying that all beef producers need to band together right now and try and stand together to work on these issues. Here’s Wyatt Prescott, Executice Director of the Idaho Cattlemens Assoc: “The EPA, subsidizing energy reforms, things like that that are putting a harsh burden on the beef industry in terms of presenting more obstacles, barriers, input costs, standing in the way of them and making a margin. Subsidized ethanol corn. What happens is, and that is a direct result of why the corn market is as high as it is, 40% of all corn produced this year will go to the production of ethanol. The only way it is feasible for them to produce ethanol is it is subsidized or else it would not be cost conducive and they would not be producing ethanol and the price would not be so high thus increasing the input costs for other production and it also causes an inflammatory false market even for corn farmers it makes them difficult to hedge against. Sole corn farmers would obviously be in support of this subsidy because it has brought the corn market up. The problem we see in the beef industry is that it has risen our import costs so high to where we are at the level of record high prices. Cattle producers, feeders, can’t place cattle and hedge their feed and forward hedge their finished cattle for a profit.”