Corn bonanza won't cut food prices

A fortunate mix of sunshine and rain is helping produce a bumper crop, but much of the grain will be used to make ethanol By Joshua Boak and Mike Hughlett | Chicago Tribune Reporters As recently as 10 years ago a bumper crop of corn was welcome news for farmers and consumers alike. The farmers would have more bushels to sell, which would drop prices for those buying eggs, steak and turkey at the grocery store. But in the era of ethanol even the extraordinary harvest predicted Tuesday by the government will likely provide little relief from the pressure of high prices, which hangs over growers, food producers and consumers like a scarecrow. The Agriculture Department projected that this year's corn crop has withstood rains and flooding to deliver a harvest of 12.3 billion bushels—573 million more than it expected last month... [read full story]