Ethanol replaces meat in US
The US meat supply will fall by 0,77kg per person this year as demand for ethanol pushes maize prices to their highest level in a decade, boosting livestock feeding costs. Beef, pork and chicken output will fall by 450 million kilograms, the US Department of Agriculture forecasts. That translates to 99,79kg of meat and poultry per American in 2007, down from 100,56kg per capita in 2006. Feeders are using less maize and more wheat in their rations and are sending cattle and broiler chickens to market at lower weights because of rising costs. Farmers have indicated that they will expand maize production by 15% this year, making a record crop possible. Meanwhile, food prices will rise by 2,5% to 3,5% this year, the USDA estimates. – Lloyd Phillips
Chicken poo for power
An American electricity supplier, Green Power EMC, has announced plans to build a power plant in the State of Georgia that will produce approximately 20 megawatts of electricity by using chicken litter as part of its fuel source. The $20 million plant will use gasification technology to convert the chicken litter from the numerous poultry production facilities in Georgia into enough electricity to power approximately 15 000 homes. Green Power EMC said that should this first chicken litter-to-plant, based near Carnesville, prove successful, it will open similar plants across the rest of the state of Georgia. This state is the US’s largest poultry producer. – Lloyd Phillips
