The Morning Rant

Posted by Nogger - a legend in his own mind at 11:06 | Categorized as

13/08/12 -- The overnight grains are lower, possibly on overnight rains in Illinois pushing east into Indiana this morning.

Maybe there is also a bit of unease concerning the hitherto "written in tablets of stone" ethanol mandate. The director-general of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation wrote to the FT last week calling for an "immediate, temporary suspension" of the RFS.

This morning I read that the G20 are to arrange an "emergency forum" to discuss rising food prices and what they can do about them. Here's bright idea, how about removing all subsidies, incentives and mandates that require us to turn food into fuel regardless of whether the economics of the equation stack up or not?

Not really rocket science is it? Simpler than the Daily Mail crossword in fact. Don't give me the jobs argument. "Look at the number of people that the industry employs" rubbish.

More people lost their jobs when Clinton Cards closed down than are employed by the UK biofuel industry FFS.

If an industry isn't economically viable without subsidies and/or a legal requirement that we must buy it's product no matter what, whilst that same legislation simultaneously pushes up the price of food then make it stand on it's own two feet I say. If it can't, then let it go the same way as other unsound business models and shut up shop.