Newps writes:

Only when the corn is heavily subsidized. A farmer cannot make a profit
from selling the corn outright to an ethanol producer.

Uh...you want to give some details there? Ethanol plants pay about (but
typically *slightly* more) what local grain elevators pay.

Selling corn to make ethanol is not profitable without the federal
government stepping in to prop up the prices. If corn was sold on the
open market at market prices with no government interference there would
be no ethanol.

O.k., so you really weren't saying anything ethanol-specific from the
farmer's perspective, right? Selling for ethanol vs. selling for feed (or
whatever) really makes no difference. (Granted, the ethanol plants would
not be able to afford to *buy* grain at market prices without subsidies
but that's not seen by the farmer...usually. I often joke that ethanol
plants are just a way of extracting money from taxpayers. That doesn't go
over well at the ethanol plant meetings.)

You want to know what you're paying farmers and
ranchers?

Uh...I *are* one. I'm all for getting rid of the subsidies though. I
thought we were going to do that a few years ago but that changed.

Let's get rid of all of the subsidies - starting with petroleum.

--kyler