01/16/07 Corn demand in Idaho?

There is a lot of talk on Capitol Hill about renewable energy and the 2007 Farm Bill. The demand for corn to be used in ethanol production was up last year and is expected to be the same this year. USDA World Ag Outlook Board chairman Gerald Bange says ethanol use and increased exports have pushed the corn price forecast up a dime. BANGE "We're now looking at a price of somewhere between $3.00 and 3.40, that would give us a mid point of 3.20. That $3.20 is up very sharply from the two dollars that was recorded in 2005-06." Obviously that's good news for producers who grow corn. University of Idaho ag economist Garth Taylor says feed lot owners aren't jumping for joy over corn prices. TAYLOR "It's that old teeter totter effect in agriculture. When one goes up the other one goes down. They're going to get some squeeze on that." Taylor says he's talked with a lot of farmers and many of them say they plan to grow corn this year. He says a year from now. TAYLOR "We may be starting to have to track corn as a crop in Idaho because we don't now." Renova Energy plans to use corn as the feedstock for a 20 million gallon ethanol plant that should be operational in Burley a year from now. Voice of Idaho Agriculture Bill Scott