Newszap Delaware, DE
02-09-07
Food, fuel forum focus; Agriculture facing transitional period
William R. Roher Jr., Nutrient Management Commission program administrator, left, and Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control secretary John A. Hughes listen to Robert N. Wisner speak during Friday’s Governor’s Conference on Delaware Agriculture. Delaware State News/Kate House-Layton
By Kate House-Layton, Delawrae State News
DOVER - Corn-made fuel continues to get much attention as the amber wave of the future.
"But it also has implications," said Dr. Thomas W. Ilvento, chairman of the department of food and resource economics at the University of Delaware.
Growing corn for fuel can be good for grain farmers, he said, but increase costs for livestock and human consumption.
It also creates questions of grain storage, growth and land use.
Finding the balance between food vs. fuel was one of the themes of this year's Governor's Confrerence on Delaware Agriculture held Friday at the Modern Maturity Center in Dover.
Hundreds of state and regional officials, academics and people in agribusiness attended Friday's gathering that featured Dr. Robert Wisner, professor and extension economist at Iowa State University, and Richard Willey, president of Perdue Agribusiness in Salisbury, Md.
The role of the agricultural conference, Dr. Ilvento said, is to look at topics that are relevant to the Delaware community, including suppliers and other agribusinesses.
"Our goal here in the conference is not to come up with the answers, but to help the questions along," he said.
Dr. Wisner talked about the explosion of corn production, research and development in recent years.
"We're in a transition in agriculture that's unlike any that we have seen ... probably it's the most dramatic change since the invention of the steel plow," Dr. Wisner said.
"We're moving from just primarily a producer of food and fiber to also a major producer of energy."
The Midwest, Dr. Wisner said, could continue to lead the nation in corn production.
Mr. Willey said that could spur more Delmarva farmers to switch to growing corn instead of soybeans.
"We start every year here on Delmarva in a corn deficit situation in the poultry business," he said.
Perdue, therefore, buys corn from out-of-state farmers.
"As these (biofuel) plants grow, there's a new commercial dynamic that has to be addressed," Mr. Willey said.
The price of food is going to go up, he said, as it competes with fuel.
"I don't think we know the extent today," he said.
"But we do know the dynamic is going to change as far as acreage planted, as far as pricing, how it's going to affect food production, how it's going to affect fuel production.
"If anybody tells you they've got this whole thing figured out, I think it's premature a little bit because it's still a moving target."
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Staff writer Kate House-Layton can be reached at 741-8242 or