We now use cropland to grow energy crops if this continues to it's logical conclusion what will be the result

Question

to the farmer money is the most important thing ( has to be in the real world ) so if growing Bio-mass pays more what happens to food prices will we reach an equilibrium or will food prices rise too much ( meat mostly since it is land most suitable for grain - for now) or since we have the land and the tech will we become a food importer ? (Interesting that there is no catagory for Agribusiness that I could find ???)

Answer 1

Good question...wish I had the answer. I've been watching us bulldoze the best Ag lands in the US to build cheap apartment complexes for years, and wondering "when will people wake up?" I agree that turning food crops under in order to grow car fuel is inane, and I don't want to even guess what the new equilibrium costs for food will look like. Besides, John, we're already a food importer...we couldn't feed ourselves, by ourselves, now if we had to.

I suggest we pass a tax exemption for all Ag land that's kept under food production to help protect those lands from ad velorem tax increases...which forces farmers to sell their land to developers. Next we should pass a moratorium on developing ANY land that's either wilderness or been under Ag production within the last 40 years---let the developers focus on re-developing inner-city urban areas.

Or something like that...