Buying gas by the cob

Speaking of Heifer, I've been predicting this ever since they mentioned the possibility in their magazine:

USDA: ethanol could increase food prices

By Tom Johnston on 3/5/2007 for Meatingplace.com

USDA projects that ethanol production will consume 50 percent more corn this year, taking a big bite out of the food industry's share of the crop and possibly forcing food prices to rise. Keith Collins, the department's chief economist, said farmers are expected to grow a record 12.2 billion bushels of corn in 2007, with 3.2 billion bushels going into ethanol production. In 2006, 2.15 billion bushels of corn were used to make the biofuel. "Even with that increase, we think production will fall short of demand," Collins said during USDA's annual Agriculture Outlook Forum.