News Article For Your Information
Ethanol Boom Could Worsen World Hunger: Study
Dated: April 04, 2007
Posted: Apr. 05, 2007
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The boom in ethanol fuels in the United States and elsewhere could have devastating effects on food prices and worsen world hunger, a new study argues.
The study by C. Ford Runge and Benjamin Senauer of the University of Minnesota said the rush into ethanol threatens to divert massive amounts of corn and other food crops into biofuels.
The researcher write in the May/June edition of Foreign Affairs that governments should stop incentives for ethanol until biofuels can be economically produced from sources other than corn and soybeans.
"Resorting to biofuels is likely to exacerbate world hunger," they said. "Several studies by economists at the World Bank and elsewhere suggest that caloric consumption among the world's poor declines by about half of one percent whenever the average prices of all major food staples increase by one percent."
The researchers said the surge in energy prices along with subsidies and incentives given by governments has pushed farmers into diverting massive amounts of corn, oilseeds and other crops into ethanol.
In the US, this affects corn, but in Brazil it involves sugar cane and in Africa cassava.
"If, all other things being equal, the prices of staple foods increased because of demand for biofuels, the number of food-insecure people in the world would rise by over 16 million for every percentage increase in the real prices of staple foods," they wrote.
"That means that 1.2 billion people could be chronically hungry by 2025 -- 600 million more than previously predicted."
They said the biofuel craze could push up corn prices 20 percent by 2010 and 41 percent by 2020. This could affect other crops such as rice or wheat, since farmers are converting their fields to corn or other plants more profitable because of their potential for ethanol.
"In the United States, the growth of the biofuel industry has triggered increases not only in the prices of corn, oilseeds, and other grains but also in the prices of seemingly unrelated crops and products," they said.
"The use of land to grow corn to feed the ethanol maw is reducing the acreage devoted to other crops. Food processors who use crops such as peas and sweet corn have been forced to pay higher prices to keep their supplies secure, costs that will eventually be passed on to consumers."
The authors said the ethanol market is further distorted by subsidies that make diversion of crops even more profitable.
"Rather than promoting more mandates, tax breaks, and subsidies for biofuels, the US government should make a major commitment to substantially increasing energy efficiency in vehicles, homes, and factories; promoting alternative sources of energy, such as solar and wind power; and investing in research to improve agricultural productivity and raise the efficiency of fuels derived from cellulose," the authors said.
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Letter from BAI OIC Dir Davinio Catbagan
Re: Vaccine
Posted: Mar. 22, 2007
Click here to download/view high resolution uncropped version.
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MEMO: Corn Importation
Posted: Mar. 16, 2007
Per Corn Importation meeting the other day at NFA, importation of 400,000 metric tons is already approved by the President as follows:
* First 200,000 MTS to arrive not later than June-July 2007
* Second 200.000 MTS if still needed to arrive not later than DEC. 31, 2007
HOW MUCH WILL IT COST US? It is duty free so at present $price it should cost ex-vessel any Luzon port more or less P11.00. Add to this NFA fee of P0.50 plus corn development fund contribution of P0.50 plus stevedoring and delivery cost to your warehouse in Bulacan of estimated P1.00 and you have a TOTAL COST DELIVERED of P13.00 roughly at present C&F $price.
MECHANICS:
* Tender of Suppliers will be on or about April 15 for shipment to arrive June
* Allocation for hog sector is 30% of total volume, so 60,000 MTS, enough for all
* To participate we need to submit letter of intent together with a P1.50/kilo commitment fee,
date of submission to be announced, refundable if later on you decide to back out
* Final payment on balance to be at least one week before arrival
* Detailed official guidelines will be distributed during our March 29 meeting
DO WE BUY OR NOT? I say yes if we elect to buy U.S. corn because it is usually aflatoxin free and with minimal impurities. Net effect on cost and improved hog performance compared to using local corn will be as if you deducted P1.00 from the above-mentioned estimated cost of P13.00.Naka contribute pa tayo sa corn development fund.
You may reserve your volume with Dolly or Rose at Telefax No. (02) 924-2259 & Telephone No. (02) 9242317. Come to our Mar 29 meeting for discussions.
Respectfully Yours,
<signed>
Renato R. Eleria
Vice-Chairman
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Letter to DA Secretary Arthur C. Yap
Posted: Mar. 12, 2007
HON. ARTHUR C. YAP
Secretary
Department of Agriculture
Elliptical Road, Diliman, Quezon City
Dear Secretary Yap,
The National Federation of Hog Farmers Inc which we represent actively monitors field developments especially problems that seriously undermine our members’ productivity.
While Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea created a huge loss in terms of mortality which we now feel in terms of less fattener marketed this March and April (piglet Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea cases last September & October 2006), a long term loss in production had been experienced by our members in a new disease called Porcine Multisystemic Wasting Syndrome caused by Porcine Circo Virus 2 and Porcine Circo Virus 2 Associated Diseases.
The disease is known to diminish survival rate by as much as 25% targeting weanlings to starter age. Normally we recover between 80%-85% of our animals produced from birth to market however this disease brings down our productivity to a low of 65% over a period of 7-8 months. We are aware of farms depopulating by 40% due to the protracted nature of this disease, it being a virus and incurable by antibiotics or any other means.
Recently, good response to new vaccines developed against this malady in France and the rest of Europe, Canada and the United States motivated us to bring this recent development to your good office.
We believe that immunization against Porcine Circo Virus 2 when found effective under local condition (as substantiated in French and European farm trials) would benefit Filipino pig farmers.
We commend the DA for its success in eradicating FMD but the success as we know it has been brought about by an effective vaccination program of the BAI as sustained by your leadership. In the midst of rising costs a boost in our productivity by way of allowing the entry of breakthrough vaccines will ensure the affordability to our people of pork meat.
Thank you.
Respectfully Yours,
<signed>
Rene R. Eleria
NFHFi Vice-Chairman
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PLEASE READ THIS NEWS.
Bottomline: nil possibility of us importing corn even at zero tariff. Future consequence: U.S. will have to choose between producing ethanol or feeding livestock with corn. -Renato Eleria, Vice-Chairman
Bush seeks ethanol alliance with Brazilian President
Posted: Mar. 05, 2007
By: ALAN CLENDENNING, AP Business Writer
President Bush kicks off a Latin American tour Thursday, sugar cane fields stretch for hundreds of miles, providing the ethanol that fuels eight out of every 10 new Brazilian cars.
In only a few years, Brazil has turned itself into the planet's undisputed renewable energy leader, and the highlight of Bush's visit is expected to be a new ethanol "alliance" he will forge with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
The deal is still being negotiated, but the two leaders are expected to sign an accord Friday to develop standards to help turn ethanol into an internationally traded commodity, and to promote sugar cane-based ethanol production in Central America and the Caribbean to meet rising international demand.
Across Latin America's largest nation, Brazilian media are billing the Bush-Silva meeting as a bid to create a new two-nation "OPEC of Ethanol," despite efforts by Brazilian and American officials to downplay the label amid concerns that whatever emerges would be viewed as a price-fixing cartel.
Meanwhile, political and energy analysts warn that any agreements reached between Brazil and the United States are unlikely to have short-term effects. And the deal itself could end up largely symbolic because of reluctance by Washington to address a key point of friction: A 54 cent-per-gallon U.S. tariff on Brazilian ethanol imports.
"For the Brazilians, the tariff has utmost priority," said Cristoph Berg, an ethanol analyst with Germany's F.O. Licht, a commodities research firm. "They will agree with developing biofuel economies around the world, but the first thing they will say is 'We want to do away with that tariff.'"
No one is expecting Bush to give ground on the tariff. The politically sensitive issue essentially subsidizes American corn growers who are rapidly ramping up ethanol production amid Washington's encouragement of renewable biofuels to ease U.S. dependence on imported petroleum.
But the visit will help Bush and Silva join forces to promote the politically popular issue of renewable energy simply by gathering in a place where ethanol is king.
At every gas station in this city of 18 million, drivers can fill up with gasoline or ethanol. Ethanol came courtesy of a 1970s decision by Brazil's former military dictators to subsidize production and require distribution at the pumps.
A 1980s Brazilian fad with cars that ran only on ethanol petered out when oil prices fell in the early 1990s. But the fuel came back into vogue in 2003 when automakers started rolling out cars "flex-fuel" cars that run on gasoline, ethanol or any combination of the two.
With international oil prices reaching record highs, Brazilian drivers turned to the cars; most choose ethanol, because it costs about half the price of gas.
The ethanol industry is now making profits like never before amid heavy foreign investment. Just last week, Brazil's state-run oil firm, Japan's Mitsui & Co. and a Brazilian construction firm signed a memorandum of interest to study the construction of a pipeline in Brazil that would be used to help export ethanol to Japan.
Brazil is the world's top exporter, though U.S. ethanol production still surpasses Brazil. But Brazil has an edge over the United States for future production because ethanol can be produced more cheaply with sugar cane than the corn used by U.S. farmers to make ethanol.
And increased use of corn for ethanol is prompting international corn price increases, prompting Silva to tell reporters last week he would tell Bush, "Why make ethanol out of corn? Why don't we feed the corn to the chickens."
Bush has set a goal of 35 billion gallons a year of ethanol and other alternative fuels, such as soybean-based biodiesel, by 2017 — a fivefold increase over current requirements.
But production of ethanol from U.S. corn is expected to fall far short of meeting such an increase, and experts doubt even land-rich Brazil would be able to fill the gap along with help from Central America and the Caribbean. So Bush envisions a major speedup of research into production of "cellulosic" ethanol made from wood chips, switchgrass and other feedstocks.
Ethanol proponents hope Bush and Silva will nonetheless come up with a framework to sharply boost ethanol production in the nations between Brazil and the United States, encouraging more foreign investment.
And coming up with technical standards to define quality levels for ethanol is key to turn it into a commodity that could be traded like oil.
"I think its Brazilian know how and American know how, there's a lot of cross fertilization that can take place," said Brian Dean, executive director of the Interamerican Ethanol Commission.
The commission counts among its directors Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, the president's brother, as well as former Brazilian agriculture minister Roberto Rodrigues and Luiz Moreno, president of the Inter-American Development Bank.
Increasing ethanol production in the region is also expected to be a major topic in Guatemala later this month when the bank holds its annual meeting, Latin America's top yearly economic gathering.
"We see a marketplace in ethanol that can create an enormous amount of economic growth and prosperity in the United States and the rest of the world," Dean said.
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SUBJECT : SCHEDULE OF REGULAR MEETINGS
Posted: Feb. 28, 2007
Chairman and I discussed and agreed to bring back NFHF general membership meetings to Thursdays when more members are able to attend. Thus, effective March our regular general membership meetings will be held 2nd and last Thursdays. Reminders and venues will be posted a week before scheduled date.
Since the second Thu of March falls on Thailand VIV week when a lot of our members will be in Bangkok we will skip one meeting and hold just one regular meeting in March which shall be on March 29.
We will make that meeting interesting though as Ped Kalaw has invited the American Soybean Association to make a presentation on full fat soya use in the light of the high cost of protein and energy materials today. They will also give us an insight into the soya complex price trends. If we can muster it, we will also try to bring in on the same meeting the U.S. Feed Grain Council to make a presentation on the grain situation.
You see, we will improve from just being the good guys.
Why, we will work!
RENATO R. ELERIA
Vice Chairman
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SC Upholds Exemption of Livestock Farms from CARL
Posted: February 16, 2007
By Katrina M. Martinez
Lands that are devoted to commercial livestock, poultry, and
swine-raising are classified as industrial and, therefore, excluded
from agrarian reform coverage.
Thus held the Supreme Court in a 24-page decision penned by Justice
Romeo J. Callejo, Sr., partially granting the petition for certiorari
filed by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR). The SC affirmed the
decision of the Court of Appeals (CA) which exempted a
349.9996-hectare land in San Narciso, Quezon owned by respondent
Vicente K. Uy from the coverage of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform
Law (CARL) but reversed and set aside a similar exemption given by the
CA to a 22.2639-hectare parcel of land owned by Uy for lack of
evidence showing that the property had been investigated by DAR.
The Court reiterated the unconstitutionality of DAR Administrative
Order (AO) No. 9 which sought to "regulate livestock farms by
excluding them in the coverage of agrarian reform and prescribing a
maximum retention limit for their ownership." The Court had held in
DAR v. Sutton that the DAR exceeded its authority in issuing the said
AO as it had "no power to regulate livestock farms which have been
exempted by the Constitution from the coverage of agrarian reform."
The Court also said that a perusal of the deliberations of the 1986
Constitutional Commission confirms the intent to exclude from agrarian
reform all lands used exclusively for livestock, swine, and
poultry-raising which are classified as "industrial" activities. The
Court likewise cited the cases of Luz Farms v. Secretary of the DAR
and Natalia Realty, Inc. v. DAR where it categorically ruled that
lands devoted to residential, commercial, and industrial purposes were
exempted from agrarian reform without any other qualifications.
The Court also pointed out that the passage of RA 7881 which amended
certain provisions of the 1988 CARL "changed the definition of terms
'agricultural activity' and 'commercial farming' by dropping from its
coverage lands that are devoted to commercial livestock, poultry and
swine-raising." The Court held that this significant modification
showed that Congress "clearly sought to align the provisions of our
agrarian laws with the intent of the 1986 Constitutional Commission to
exclude livestock farms from the coverage of agrarian reform."
The case arose when farmers who occupied portions of the subject
property owned by respondent Uy filed petitions in the DAR seeking to
be declared as owner-beneficiaries. Uy filed an Application for
Exclusion, alleging that the 349.9996-ha landholding had been used
exclusively for livestock-raising for several years prior to the date
of effectivity of RA 6657 (Rules and Regulations Governing the
Exclusion of Agricultural Lands Used for Livestock, Poultry and
Swine-Raising From the Coverage of the CARP). The DAR issued an
order, which was affirmed by the Office of the President, exempting
only a portion of the property. The CA reversed the decision of the
Office of the President and declared that the entire 349.9996-hectare
property of Uy as well as another 22.2369-hectare landholding of his
that he sought to exclude from agrarian reform were exempt from
coverage of the CARL.
Concurring in the decision were Justices Consuelo Ynares-Santiago, Ma.
Alicia Austria-Martinez, and Minita V. Chico-Nazario. (GR No. 169277,
Department of Agrarian Reform v. Vicente K. Uy, February 9, 2007)
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