US pig producers do not need to worry that ethanol production will cause a corn shortage for pig feeds, National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) president Gerald Tumbleson said.
Both lawmakers and leaders of livestock groups had expressed their concern at a House Agricultural Committee farm bill hearing this week.
Joy Philippi, the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC ) president, said the ethanol industry’s demand for corn was creating increasing anxiety within the US livestock industry. “The rapidly growing demand for corn for ethanol production gives producers like me the jitters,” she said.
NCGA president Tumbleson, however, said Brownfield increased yields alone will most likely make sure that there is sufficient corn in the future. “We’re pretty well convinced that we’re going to increase yields,” he said.
Altogether, NPPC addressed five issues critical to the pork industry: in addition to ethanol, Philippi talked about risk management, conservation and the environment, animal welfare and market structure and information.
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