WASHINGTON President Bush’s recent call for the production of more alternative fuels like ethanol could drive up the cost of chicken and other proteins, a poultry trade group warned Wednesday.
The National Chicken Council said the goals set by the President in his State of the Union address on Tuesday could divert more of the corn typically used as animal feed into the production of ethanol. Stepped-up demand from ethanol producers has already doubled the price of corn, it noted.
During his address to Congress on Tuesday, Bush called for increasing the nation’s output of renewable, alternative fuels almost five-fold, from the current annual output of 7.5 billion gallons to 35 billion gallons by 2017. He cited that heightened production as a crucial step in lessening the nation’s dependence on oil from foreign sources.
“The supply of corn is not unlimited,” William Roenigk, senior vice president and chief economist for the Council. “While we applaud the Administration’s support for the development of alternative fuel, the fact remains that corn is the most popular feedstock for ethanol, and increasing the demand for ethanol will put additional pressure on the cost of both food and corn.”
Bush also stressed to Congress and the nation that “we must continue investing in new methods of producing ethanol, using everything from wood chips to grasses, to agricultural wastes.”
The National Chicken Council, based here, says that its members grow or process 95 percent of the chicken produced in the United States.
