This week, a coalition of US, Canadian, and Mexican livestock groups issued a call for more to be done to insure there will be enough feed for the livestock industry. The coalition asked their nations to call for NAFTA agricultural ministers to meet and address the issue of feed availability. The leaders say they are worried about the ability to feed should there be a drought or crop disease that affects feed grain supplies. In a joint statement the group said, If the availability of feed is not addressed in a responsible manner, the ability of hundreds of millions of people to consume pork and other meat and poultry products will be jeopardized.
Tom Buis, with Growth Energy, told HAT, however, the livestock sector has nothing to worry about, There is more feed available to the animal industry that ever before.?Buis says the ethanol industry produces large amounts of animal feed as a by-product of the ethanol process. He said the issue is not supply but price, They may not like paying the higher price for corn but, keep in mind, the government subsidized low corn prices for over 30 years. You cannot do that today; you have to get your price from the market. Buis said, ironically, the biggest factor driving up the cost of livestock production is high oil prices.
