Ethanol and the price of beer
By David Nicklaus
Monday, Apr. 30 2007
The boom in ethanol has pushed corn prices north of $3.50 a bushel, which has farmers planning to plant more corn acres than they have since World War II. And that, believe it or not, may affect the cost of a bottle of Bud. Planting more acres of corn means planting fewer acres of other crops, including barley.
August A. Busch IV, chief executive of Anheuser-Busch, mentioned this concern today in a speech at the Montana Economic Development Summit. The Big Sky state supplies about 25 percent of the barley malt that goes into Budweiser, Bud Light and other A-B products. Said the CEO:
Demand for ethanol and corn production is rapidly emerging and largely unknown as a variable that could have a major impact, not only on the acreage available for barley production, but on the quality and cost of barley for our business.
This entry was posted on Monday, April 30th, 2007 at 2:50 pm and is filed under Mound City Money.
