Speculators argue that commodity prices are simply the product of supply and demand, yet an oil analyst on TV this morning stated that a barrel of oil would be priced at $75-$80 now if speculation was taken out of the market. A similar situation exists with the price of food commodities worldwide.

Here's an article which discusses the situation :

Commodity speculation spread long ago from standard products like oil and gold to anything edible and available for trade on the Chicago Futures Exchange. These days there are futures contracts for everything from wheat to oranges to pork bellies. The futures market is a traditional tool for farmers to sell their harvests ahead of time. In a futures contract, quantities, prices and delivery dates are fixed, sometimes even before crops have been planted. Futures contracts allow farmers and grain wholesalers a measure of protection against adverse weather conditions and excessive price fluctuations. They can also help a farmer plan how much to plant for a given year.

But now speculators are taking advantage of this mechanism. They can buy futures contracts for wheat, for example, at a low price, betting that the price will go up. If the price of the grain rises by the agreed delivery date, they profit.

Some experts now believe these investors have taken over the market, buying futures at unprecedented levels and driving up short-term prices. Since last August, this mechanism has led to a doubling in the price of rice -- including the 500,000 tons that the Philippine government plans to buy in early May to address its own shortage.

Greg Warner has worked in the grain wholesaling business for more than two decades. His office sits a block away from the Chicago Futures Exchange. He's an analyst with the firm AgResource, and he says what is happening now in the wheat market is unprecedented.

"What we normally have is a predictable group of sellers and buyers -- mainly farmers and silo operators," he says. But the landscape has changed since the influx of large index funds. Fund managers seek to maximize their profits using futures contracts, and prices, says Warner, "keep climbing up and up."

He's calculated that financial investors now hold the rights to two complete annual harvests of a type of grain traded in Chicago called "soft red winter wheat."

Wagner is stunned by such developments. He sees them as evidence that capitalism is literally consuming itself.


Here's another comment on the current situtation and where it may lead:

At this moment Hedge funds are Moving into the Food-business and they are making Big Money.

Just like every Bubble the Food Bubble will also burst at a certain moment. It is not difficult to imagine when this will happen. It will happen when a only very small part of the world is able to pay for the food. The Bubble is already infecting the Economy of the Rich Countries.

Also the poor people in the West will be unable to pay for the food but at a certain moment also the Middle Class will feel the effects. When the Poor People in the Rich Countries will feel a Food Shortage they will Riot just like the poor people in the Underdeveloped Countries are Rioting. When the Riots start in the Getto's of the Big Cities the Rich will become Afraid. They will Ask for Protection of Police or the Military. In the end they have to surround there homes with walls and create there own food supplies.

Is this what the Investors really want?

Bobbi 

[quote user="bobbinm"]

Speculators argue that commodity prices are simply the product of supply and demand, yet an oil analyst on TV this morning stated that a barrel of oil would be priced at $75-$80 now if speculation was taken out of the market. A similar situation exists with the price of food commodities worldwide.

Here's an article which discusses the situation :

Commodity speculation spread long ago from standard products like oil and gold to anything edible and available for trade on the Chicago Futures Exchange. These days there are futures contracts for everything from wheat to oranges to pork bellies. The futures market is a traditional tool for farmers to sell their harvests ahead of time. In a futures contract, quantities, prices and delivery dates are fixed, sometimes even before crops have been planted. Futures contracts allow farmers and grain wholesalers a measure of protection against adverse weather conditions and excessive price fluctuations. They can also help a farmer plan how much to plant for a given year.

But now speculators are taking advantage of this mechanism. They can buy futures contracts for wheat, for example, at a low price, betting that the price will go up. If the price of the grain rises by the agreed delivery date, they profit.

Some experts now believe these investors have taken over the market, buying futures at unprecedented levels and driving up short-term prices. Since last August, this mechanism has led to a doubling in the price of rice -- including the 500,000 tons that the Philippine government plans to buy in early May to address its own shortage.

Greg Warner has worked in the grain wholesaling business for more than two decades. His office sits a block away from the Chicago Futures Exchange. He's an analyst with the firm AgResource, and he says what is happening now in the wheat market is unprecedented.

"What we normally have is a predictable group of sellers and buyers -- mainly farmers and silo operators," he says. But the landscape has changed since the influx of large index funds. Fund managers seek to maximize their profits using futures contracts, and prices, says Warner, "keep climbing up and up."

He's calculated that financial investors now hold the rights to two complete annual harvests of a type of grain traded in Chicago called "soft red winter wheat."

Wagner is stunned by such developments. He sees them as evidence that capitalism is literally consuming itself.


Here's another comment on the current situtation and where it may lead:

At this moment Hedge funds are Moving into the Food-business and they are making Big Money.

Just like every Bubble the Food Bubble will also burst at a certain moment. It is not difficult to imagine when this will happen. It will happen when a only very small part of the world is able to pay for the food. The Bubble is already infecting the Economy of the Rich Countries.

Also the poor people in the West will be unable to pay for the food but at a certain moment also the Middle Class will feel the effects. When the Poor People in the Rich Countries will feel a Food Shortage they will Riot just like the poor people in the Underdeveloped Countries are Rioting. When the Riots start in the Getto's of the Big Cities the Rich will become Afraid. They will Ask for Protection of Police or the Military. In the end they have to surround there homes with walls and create there own food supplies.

Is this what the Investors really want?

Bobbi 

[/quote]

Hi Bobbi,

"Just like every Bubble the Food Bubble will also burst at a certain moment."

 And when the food bubble bursts a whole new crop  of family farmers will go under cause they have over extended themselves. With low interest rates and high commodities prices, they will borrow and buy land and new equipment, then when price for their products falls the farmers will be screwed they will not be able to make their payments.

Prices will fall cause the speculators who are long to suck everyone else in, they WILL go short and have lots of money to do so. this is allmost like ENRON buying energy and hold it off the market till the price was right.

 Ranchers will slaughters their herds and meat will be cheap for a while..., cause price of feed will go up.

After the chash the ONLY people with money will be the big Agra business. They will buy farm land, water rights and equipment cheap. 

Will the government try to bail out these farmers? 

This is just like the 70's and 80's first inflation and housing shot up next we had farmers and ranchers borrow too much and go out of business. The only difference this time is the government forcing the use of food as fuel.

EVERYTIME the government fiddles in "FREE" markets bad things happen. 

I was driving thu Napa CA looking for property for my Mom and Aunt(never mind they did not buy when I did when it was cheap in 1989) in 2006 and every square inch of property had grapes growing on it. Shortly after that the price of wine crashed.

It was funny to be driving thu calistoga,CA(I think) and see grapes growing in vacant lots in town!!!!

 

Bobbi:

I can't seem to get to your 1st article through the link you provided. Can you please show a different route because I'd really like to read it. Thanks.

stormy,

Try this one from a different source.

Bobbi 

When sales of futures exceed the actual amount of the commodity, there's trouble. Too much temptation to manipulate the actual fair market value of the commodity when there's billions more in futures than actual product on the market.

Sooner or later there's a bubble bust, but these things can last a long time. 

 

"When sales of futures exceed the actual amount of the commodity, there's trouble."

Yes! Why is this allowed?

Bobbi 

Is this what the Investors really want?

LOL.. It's called the " Free Enterprise/Market System"  and 'Capitalisum' at it's finest!

You think this is a Fair and Equal business? It's Dog eat Dog..just like owing anyother Business..and ' Whatever the Market will Bear' is the name of the game..it's all Greed...esepcailly when some HS drop out wants $15 Hr to be a Clerk or some Factory worker with a 8th grade education wants $30 hr, per their Unions..

Eventually? It will go by the way of the Finance and Airlines and other industries... Need to be Re -regulated to some degree .

Just like our parents told us, we tell our Kids> "Gots to get a Degree to get a Decent job and afford to LIve in the Burbs. Let the Poor live in the big ciites and Kill each other"

and yes, we are already living in what is called " Gated communities" bobbi..

Eventually Our Whole Town is becomming a " Gated Community" as many in the Burbs Are..

It's a shame, but that's life in a Free Enterprise/Capitalistic Society..

It's better than A dictatorship or communisum isn't it?

Speculators, or at least successful speculators, are extremely ethical.  A speculator is someone who demands (buys) what nobody wants, just about the time they are ready to throw it away (that's the "buy low" part), and supplies (sells) what everybody desperately wants, just when they most want it ("sell high").  Successful speculators make their living by correct prediction of future demand, not by price manipulation.  If it wasn't for speculation, there would be NO demand for some things when they are plentiful, and NO supply for some things when they are scarce.

Let's start with an example from food... suppose there is a *great* crop of wheat this year.  There is more wheat than anybody can use, and so the price drops like a rock.  Somebody however goes, "wait a minute, that was an unusually good crop, it's not always like that" and buys a bunch of wheat to resell later (that's your speculator).  Next year, the weather is terrible, and there is a poor crop of wheat, but - surprise - there is a normal amount of wheat for consumption, because the speculator is now selling.

Thus the "job" of speculators is to make money by correctly predicting variations in supply and/or demand and EVENING THEM OUT.  Speculators who don't do this, don't stay in business for very long.

Speculators also perform two other important functions related to this.  

One, think about who the speculator who buys wheat is competing with for wheat when he buys when there is excess supply - it is probably somebody who doesn't want wheat very much, and is buying ti just because it's so damn cheap - maybe as a substitute for another kind of animal feed that is normally preferable, or as mulch/fuel/alcohol/whatever - ie, he preempts a marginal use.  But during the period of scarcity, the speculator is selling to people who really want it, perhaps for human consumption - thus supplying a critical use.  Preempting marginal uses in favor of critical uses is a good thing.

Two, think about the farmer who grew wheat during the great year.  Normally, he'd be in trouble, because even though he has a lot of wheat, prices are so low that he's actually going to lose money.  That is, until several speculators step in and bid prices to close to a normal level.  Without the speculators, the farmer might decide to grow something else (maybe soybeans) next year, thus exacerbating next year's shortage of wheat.  But with the speculators, the farmer is assured of a much steadier price level than instantaneous supply and demand might suggest, and so he keeps growing wheat.  Thus speculators help both producers and consumers make longer-term plans assuming a reasonably steady price level and availability level of things that normally would fluctuate wildly.  Price stability and large stock on hand is also a good thing.

I take some pride in being a successful speculator.  Right now (and since a couple of years ago) my big commodity speculation is OIL.  I believe that a critical shortage of oil is a very possible scenario, for any number of reasons (some given by Matt Simmons, some others) and I have done my part today to "stockpile" as much oil as I reasonably can (check my portfolio in hands-on, which mirrors my real life portfolio).  In doing that, I have surely done my small part to raise prices, and also to encourage oil producers to spend more on exploration/drilling/upgrading facilities, and consumers to conserve and look into alternatives, thus making any future shortage somewhat less severe.  If a shortage does occur, I (and other speculators) will be pretty much the only people with extra oil to sell.  You may hate the high prices, but at least you'll be able to commute to work; and I will make a bunch of money.  If a shortage does not occur, I will lose a bunch of money.  I only make money if I can help people, how is that not ethical exactly?

Hi rayden,

The picture of speculation you paint is indeed very pretty. I believe your scenario is, in fact, pretty much the way it has worked for a century. You will, however, have a hard time convincing me that those who are buying rice, wheat and corn ( or oil) now are buying because the commodities are " just so damned cheap " .

The proliferation of dollars into hedge funds has increased from something under a trillion dollars in 2004 to almost 3 trillion by the end of 2007. These dollars have to find a home. It seems to me that many of these fund managers, or their computers, all chase the same asset. I believe this speculation creates inflationary pressure, causing particular prices to increase above their true value (real value - adjusted for inflation) simply because the speculative purchasing artificially increases the demand. Don't you agree that price rises due to speculative purchasing causes further speculative purchasing in the hope that the price will continue to rise? Isn't this how "bubbles" form?

I'm not convinced getting between farmers and consumers, taking money from both sides, is really  as altruistic as you claim.

Bobbi 

rayden,

you seem to be buying a lot of oil.

Are you going to start your own private reserve? 

The futures market was meant for a producer and consumer to ensure supplies.

Every system produced by man will be gamed.

So do not pretend that speculators are doing "US" a favor by guaranteeing the correct amount of a certain commodity is available. IT IS WHAT IT IS!!! GREED.

 

The problem I have is when speculators lose aand go crying to government for a bail out and get it.

I remember one woman had bought many, 3 or 4 houses, with no money down liar loans and she could not make her payments and she wanted to know what government was going to do to "HELP" her out.

[quote user="bobbinm"]

You will, however, have a hard time convincing me that those who are buying rice, wheat and corn ( or oil) now are buying because the commodities are " just so damned cheap " .

[/quote]

Well, I certainly do think so.  The key question to ask is, cheap *compared to what*?   Tangible assets of all kinds except real estate seem cheap to me, compared to paper assets of all kinds.  "Feel" is not exactly scientific, but let me give you an example or two.

One, have you ever tried buying a *large quantity* of any commodity?  I mean for actual physical delivery.  If you do, you will have a little revelation, supply tends to be very restricted nowadays, it's not a matter of how much it costs but how much can you get and when, regardless of price, and this is true for many different kinds of commodities.  I know of a number of producers who are rationing deliveries to their larger customers, and large deliveries are routinely behind by months; but for a small customer, the appearance of unlimited supply still exists.  Commodities have been so cheap for so long that investment in additional capacity has seriously lagged, and now there is minimal (or no) excess capacity for many things.

Two, consider that any number of key commodities are in fact so cheap that a small hedge fund can buy the worldwide total supply for the next ten or twenty years out of petty cash.  Case in point, selenium, total production 1500 tons/year, total value of that today is a mere $100M, how on earth is that not cheap?  We're talking about something that has NO substitute in animal feed, fertilizer, and human nutritional supplements (arguably other uses like steel and glass-making can be substituted).  There has to be some kind of balance between how important something is (extremely), how easy it is to substitute (not possible), and how much it costs ($30/lb??). 

Same for oil, only on a much larger scale.   If China thought that oil was running out, how much could they buy using their foreign currency (mostly dollar) reserves if they made a private offer to the Saudis to buy all their future production for some period of time, at let's say double or triple today's spot price?

 [quote user="bobbinm"]

The proliferation of dollars into hedge funds has increased from something under a trillion dollars in 2004 to almost 3 trillion by the end of 2007. These dollars have to find a home. It seems to me that many of these fund managers, or their computers, all chase the same asset.

 [/quote]

Sort of true, but they don't do so because they're stupid, they do it because it is an undervalued asset.  See above. 

 
 [quote user="bobbinm"]

I believe this speculation creates inflationary pressure, causing particular prices to increase above their true value (real value - adjusted for inflation) simply because the speculative purchasing artificially increases the demand.

  [/quote]

"True value"?  Prices don't measure value.  Price is determined by availability as well as "value".  Also, nothing guarantees that all prices must move together in step with the general "inflation" level.  If the usefulness of something goes up or availability goes down, prices can increase - and *stay* there - without any regard for general "inflation". 


 [quote user="bobbinm"]

Don't you agree that price rises due to speculative purchasing causes further speculative purchasing in the hope that the price will continue to rise? Isn't this how "bubbles" form?  [/quote]

Speculators who do that tend to lose all their money rather quickly.  It's natural selection in action.  I am fairly sure that this is not what we are seeing in the commodities space today.

 [quote user="bobbinm"]

I'm not convinced getting between farmers and consumers, taking money from both sides, is really  as altruistic as you claim. [/quote]

 The alternative being periodic famines, I'd have to disagree.  Of course it doesn't have to be *entirely* altruistic, but altruism does play a part.

Hey Santa Cruz, 

"you seem to be buying a lot of oil. Are you going to start your own private reserve?" - lol maybe, I did my buying a while ago, but yes maybe I should, the thought of taking delivery has surely crossed my mind. 

"The futures market was meant for a producer and consumer to ensure supplies." - and speculators to keep them in check ;)

"So do not pretend that speculators are doing "US" a favor by guaranteeing the correct amount of a certain commodity is available. IT IS WHAT IT IS!!! GREED." - of course!  but it works to produce that beneficial result at the same time, so people shouldn't knock it.

"The problem I have is when speculators lose aand go crying to government for a bail out and get it."  - yup, pisses me off.  especially as i was speculating against real estate as well ;)  naturally i would never do that, (a) not that the government would ever care to bail me out  and (b)  have i ever been wrong so as to require a bailout?  lol.

[quote user="rayden"]

Hey Santa Cruz, 

"you seem to be buying a lot of oil. Are you going to start your own private reserve?" - lol maybe, I did my buying a while ago, but yes maybe I should, the thought of taking delivery has surely crossed my mind. 

"The futures market was meant for a producer and consumer to ensure supplies." - and speculators to keep them in check ;)

"So do not pretend that speculators are doing "US" a favor by guaranteeing the correct amount of a certain commodity is available. IT IS WHAT IT IS!!! GREED." - of course!  but it works to produce that beneficial result at the same time, so people shouldn't knock it.

"The problem I have is when speculators lose aand go crying to government for a bail out and get it."  - yup, pisses me off.  especially as i was speculating against real estate as well ;)  naturally i would never do that, (a) not that the government would ever care to bail me out  and (b)  have i ever been wrong so as to require a bailout?  lol.

[/quote]

Your responses put a smile on my face.

☺ 

Anyone else old enough to remember Johnny Carson?  On a monologue one night, he made a gag about the coming "toilet paper shortage."  The next thing you knew, there was a real toilet paper shortage caused by consumers stocking up, just in case. It was the actions of thousands (or more) of consumers going long on toilet paper that caused the shortage.

Sam's Clubs and Costco have limited sales of rice.  Some consumers had been buying literally dozens of 50 lb sacks.  Every consumer who "stocks up" is engaging in a form of speculation.  In our household, we've been known to engage in rampant oatmeal speculation.

--- 

Generally speculators smooth out prices.  To get an idea what markets would be like without their activity, consider a commodity that does not have a futures market: hops. 

Hops are used for making beer, and almost nothing else.  For more than a decade, prices were below the cost to grow them.  Many farmers naturally switched to other crops (the U.S. lost nearly half its hop acreage).  Excess inventory was converted to extract, which keeps for several years.

Last year, the excess inventory was finally consumed, accompanied by a mediocre worldwide harvest.  Then there was a warehouse fire that destroyed 4% of the U.S. crop.

Spot prices went from under $3/lb. to $25 and up.

I consider it very likely that a futures market would have softened this price action.

[quote user="Roger from SF"]

Anyone else old enough to remember Johnny Carson?  On a monologue one night, he made a gag about the coming "toilet paper shortage."  The next thing you knew, there was a real toilet paper shortage caused by consumers stocking up, just in case. It was the actions of thousands (or more) of consumers going long on toilet paper that caused the shortage.

Sam's Clubs and Costco have limited sales of rice.  Some consumers had been buying literally dozens of 50 lb sacks.  Every consumer who "stocks up" is engaging in a form of speculation.  In our household, we've been known to engage in rampant oatmeal speculation.

--- 

Generally speculators smooth out prices.  To get an idea what markets would be like without their activity, consider a commodity that does not have a futures market: hops. 

Hops are used for making beer, and almost nothing else.  For more than a decade, prices were below the cost to grow them.  Many farmers naturally switched to other crops (the U.S. lost nearly half its hop acreage).  Excess inventory was converted to extract, which keeps for several years.

Last year, the excess inventory was finally consumed, accompanied by a mediocre worldwide harvest.  Then there was a warehouse fire that destroyed 4% of the U.S. crop.

Spot prices went from under $3/lb. to $25 and up.

I consider it very likely that a futures market would have softened this price action.

[/quote]

Hi  Roger from SF,

Yes

I checked the "spot" price on ebay for a LB of Cascades (this years crop I think) $24.00.

I knew the hop farmer/distributer was in "trouble" when my favorite supplier  Morris Handberry went out of business. I use to buy German Northern Brewers, czech saaz hops and German Hauteur Hirschbuhler hops from them.

They were 1/2 OZ hop plugs pack in nitrogen.

The best!!!! 

There is nothing like real German grown Northern Brewer hops in your home brewed "anchor steam"
beer. 

Hey Santa Cruz,

There is a video on youtube that shows a Czech hop yard that was completely wiped out by a hail storm last year.  An excellent excuse for crying in my beer, LOL.

It sounds like it might be time to get acquainted with the new domestic cultivars that were bred from some of the classic European ones.  The Universities of Oregon and Washington have ongoing programs that have had good results.

Sterling is a cross between Saaz and Mt. Hood (itself descended from German Hallertauer). 

Santiam's pedigree includes Tettnang (mother), Hallertau Mittelfrüh (grandmother) and Cascade (great grandmother).

Nugget and Chinook are considered reasonable Northern Brewer substitutes.

But I hear you, and feel your pain.

Roger 

[quote user="Santa Cruz"][quote user="Roger from SF"]

Anyone else old enough to remember Johnny Carson?  On a monologue one night, he made a gag about the coming "toilet paper shortage."  The next thing you knew, there was a real toilet paper shortage caused by consumers stocking up, just in case. It was the actions of thousands (or more) of consumers going long on toilet paper that caused the shortage.

Sam's Clubs and Costco have limited sales of rice.  Some consumers had been buying literally dozens of 50 lb sacks.  Every consumer who "stocks up" is engaging in a form of speculation.  In our household, we've been known to engage in rampant oatmeal speculation.

--- 

Generally speculators smooth out prices.  To get an idea what markets would be like without their activity, consider a commodity that does not have a futures market: hops. 

Hops are used for making beer, and almost nothing else.  For more than a decade, prices were below the cost to grow them.  Many farmers naturally switched to other crops (the U.S. lost nearly half its hop acreage).  Excess inventory was converted to extract, which keeps for several years.

Last year, the excess inventory was finally consumed, accompanied by a mediocre worldwide harvest.  Then there was a warehouse fire that destroyed 4% of the U.S. crop.

Spot prices went from under $3/lb. to $25 and up.

I consider it very likely that a futures market would have softened this price action.

[/quote]

Hi  Roger from SF,

Yes

I checked the "spot" price on ebay for a LB of Cascades (this years crop I think) $24.00.

I knew the hop farmer/distributer was in "trouble" when my favorite supplier  Morris Handberry went out of business. I use to buy German Northern Brewers, czech saaz hops and German Hauteur Hirschbuhler hops from them.

They were 1/2 OZ hop plugs pack in nitrogen.

The best!!!! 

There is nothing like real German grown Northern Brewer hops in your home brewed "anchor steam"
beer. 

[/quote]

here is my favorite that uses domestic hops 

10 LBS AMERICAN 2 row 
.25 LBS AMERICAN CARAMEL 120 
.25 LBS BLACK ROASTED BARLEY 
.25 LBS ROASTED BARLEY 
.25 LBS AMERICAN CHOCOLATE 
1 OZ COLUMBUS 13.5 ALPHA ACID 60 MINS. 
.5 OZ COLUMBUS 13.5 ALPHA ACID 30 MINS. 
1 PINT SPECIAL LONDON WYEAST 1968 
.25 TBS SALT NaCL 
.5 TBS CALCIUM CARBONATE CaCO3
Recipe Calculations
 BATCH SIZE  5
 OG   1.05
 FG   1.01
 OG EST.  1.0645
 COLOR  65.85
 IBU  75
 EFF  77.5193798449613
 ALCOHOL  5.16

Style Guide Lines
 STYLE   DRY STOUT
 OG   1.040-1.050
 FG   1.008-1.014
 IBU   30-50
 COLOR   35-70
 ALCOHOL   4-5.5

 

[quote user="Roger from SF"]

Hey Santa Cruz,

There is a video on youtube that shows a Czech hop yard that was completely wiped out by a hail storm last year.  An excellent excuse for crying in my beer, LOL.

It sounds like it might be time to get acquainted with the new domestic cultivars that were bred from some of the classic European ones.  The Universities of Oregon and Washington have ongoing programs that have had good results.

Sterling is a cross between Saaz and Mt. Hood (itself descended from German Hallertauer). 

Santiam's pedigree includes Tettnang (mother), Hallertau Mittelfrüh (grandmother) and Cascade (great grandmother).

Nugget and Chinook are considered reasonable Northern Brewer substitutes.

But I hear you, and feel your pain.

Roger 

[/quote]

Nugget and Chinook I have used but only in combination with Cascade.

Sterling and Santiam must be new...

they sound interesting.

Have you ever thought of firing up a still? 

I just made a batch of hard cider from trade joe apple juice... a bit tart for my taste. 

 

Never considered firing up a still.  That's a bit much for me.

Yes, Sterling and Santiam are fairly new.  Even more recent is Glacier, which is a Fuggle descendant.  I've got all three (plus a Nugget and a Horizon) just planted in the back yard.  We'll see what happens.

If you've got some yard space, it's not too late to plant hop rhizomes this year, if you can get some (but the clock is ticking down fast).  You would need a heavy-duty trellis, as they can get up to 20' high.  In year one, most varieties yield from zero to eight ounces, dried.  Mature (3rd year) plants yield one to two pounds.  Cascades grow like weeds. 

It's time for the democrats to repeal their death by ethanol bill.  People are starving and cutting down rain forest to grow sugar cane to put fuel in our cars.

China is coming on line as well as India and hundreds of millions are now able to buy rice, corn, wheat and they like it!  You aren't going to stop them no matter how much you punish the markets, dictate prices for farmers, etc. 

Government entervention has pushed the cost of food up by driving supply DOWN. Supply is DOWN because the food by law has to go into our tanks to meet ethanol requirements.

Europe is now looking at rolling back ethanol requirements because ethanol has been a disaster for pollution and for people. 

 The answer for tight food supplies is not to punish the markets, it's undo damaging government policies.

I would also suggest the same is true of oil.  The answer is not to punish oil producers but to undo damaging government policy. 
 

Food Problems in the USA and World

Re: To ease your moral guilt on Being Comfortable and /or making $ on this situation?

Why not Just donate it...?

I do thru a local Food Bank,  that I know is very strick on who gets anything (  BG ck constantly) not to people driving around in Caddillacs and /or have Equity in their Homes or cash paying jobs, as many do and to one World Food charity program.

"As for the rest of the World? Alot of these countries refuse our help for Planting, Farming and most importantly? Family Planning..( the new 5 yr IUD is being refused now )  Most of Americans have children we can afford to raise , but they don't see it that way for Religous and Dictatorships and they hate us, but are first with their hands out when things go wrong and want the rest of the world to bail them out all the time.

Which is One main reason the USA is Slow in providing relief to these countries.( ie: To give to a Beggar, supports a Begger for Life ) and they will never learn from their mistakes."

Per PBS/Bill Moyers show

ps.After Wife Died from Cancer and Hospital bills drove me into Bankruptcy,   I was Broke/Busted and Destitute  ( sleeping on a Couch at parents home ) and I learned the hard way and vowed never to be broke again and went to work 12+ hrs/day x 7 days wk for 8 yrs. in the Limo business before slacking off..to working 12+ hr days, but only 5 days wk.

Our Work ethics are fastly different than many other people in our country and the rest of  the world.