Number: RS22908
Title: Livestock Feed Costs: Concerns and Options
Authors: Geoffrey S. Becker, Resources, Science, and Industry Division 
Abstract: Livestock producers in 2008 have seen sharply higher feed costs, fueled by competing use demands for corn and soybeans and by higher energy prices. Some analysts argue that current public policies, including financial incentives that divert corn from feed uses into ethanol production, exacerbated if not caused these higher costs. Other factors, which some believe to be at least as significant, include crop production declines due to weather, and higher global demand for commodities. Proposed options aimed at easing the impacts of higher feed costs include changes in ethanol incentives, use of conservation land for forage use, and direct aid to producers.
Pages: 6
Date: September 17, 2008