Energy bill (a.k.a. Ethanol bill) passes, wheat prices hit record high ...
If you read the fine print of the much touted Energy bill, you'll find it contains a gov't mandate to increase the use of ethanol in American gasoline by 400% over the next few years. Since 'cellulosic' ethanol processes are nowhere near being economically feasible, in the short term this means another huge increase in demand for corn based ethanol.
After already having seen what last year's ethanol mandate did to the world prices of corn and other annual crops as a result of increasing amounts of farmland being diverted to 'fuel' production, the markets are already projecting that global food prices will skyrocket and that outright shortages are likely ...
^^^ contains some curious commentary in regard to the Japanese government being forced to stop subsidizing domestic wheat prices, and to allow another 30% increase to be passed on to Japanese consumers on top of a recent 10% increase allowed by the Japanese gov't. Is it possible that the US is actually making a deliberate effort to drive up food prices worldwide as a matter of foreign policy ???
of course, expansion of ethanol mandates does have a much more direct explanation ... presidential primaries in farm states are only weeks away ! And farm state analysis in mainstream media claims that corn based ethanol has little or nothing to do with rising prices for other crops or for beef / poultry / eggs / milk or any other downstream food products. However, many disagree ...