In article ,
"Gatt" wrote:

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
ups.com...
As gas -- and corn -- prices creep ever higher, everyone in my great
State of Iowa is all ablush with talk of riches pouring in, thanks to
ethanol production. They can barely contain their glee at this
remarkable turn of economic fortune. (Remember, just a few years ago
farmers here had one foot in the grave, and the other on a banana
peel...)

Are they still subsidized? If (if) they're making money growing and selling
corn such that taxpayers don't have to subsidize their farms it seems like
there's
a general economic benefit in there.

Still doesn't solve the oil problem. Brazil uses sugarcane, which the US
could do on a smaller scale, but CNN is correct in that we can't grow enough
corn to meet our own needs.

Sugar cane has a higher sugar (and therefore energy) content than corn.
Approximately 7-10 times the energy content of corn.
A WSJ article this week reported that a US university has modified a
grass that can be broken down without the use of acids and has an energy
content 7 times greater than corn.
Just think, everyone could plant their yards with this grass, mow and
bag the clippings, have them picked up curbside and taken to the
processing plant. Corn prices drop back down to food levels and more
ethanol gets produced from our lawns.