Ethanol hurts hog industry

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Ethanol advocate, Tom Cox, in a recent letter to the editor, made the point that because the adjusted Ontario corn basis hadn't increased because of ethanol production in Ontario, then ethanol was not harming hog producers.

Unfortunately, Cox ignores the fact that his "no change in adjusted basis" position, therefore means, by definition, that ethanol hasn't helped Ontario corn farmers one iota. And, if there has been no basis improvement for corn farmers because of ethanol, why are we subsidizing it? Cox is trying to have it both ways - he is also completely ignoring the fact that ethanol has done nothing to change Ontario's status as a net importer of corn, and that's exactly the point made by the George Morris Centre in reference to higher Canadian feed grain prices "relative to the US".

Indeed, because ethanol keeps us a net importer of feed grains, we're eventually going to lose both our hog, and livestock industries in Ontario. Hogs and livestock always gravitate to where the corn is coming from, and not the other way around. By believing Cox, Ontario corn farmers are eventually going to lose both the hog and livestock markets for their corn - then they'll regret their "affair" with ethanol. The simple fact of the matter is that we're either going to have an ethanol industry in Ontario, or a hog industry, but not both.

Stephen Thompson

Clinton