Ethanolics claim that ethanol mandates are “good for farmers.” As FactsAboutEthanol has noted many times, ethanol mandates raise production costs for farmers who use corn as a feedstock.

Today the Cattlemen’s Beef Association issued a letter urging Congress to vote against H.R. 6, the House energy bill, because ”the impact of a 15 billion gallon RFS [renewable fuel standard] for feedgrain based ethanol could deal a serious blow to cattlemen if the United States experiences anything short of a U.S. corn crop year after year.”

The letter spotlights several potential perils:

• Title II lacks any proactive mechanism to reduce the mandate in the event of anticipated crop failure or infrastructure bottlenecks
• Requiring 15 billion gallons of ethanol from corn by 2016 will harm beef producers and consumers:  The mandate will consume 5.4 billion bushels of corn–41% of projected 2007 corn yields–and even a $1.50/bushel increase in the price of corn will increase the break-even cost of a feeder calf by 33%.
• Agricultural industries adversely affected by the mandate will have no opportunity to petition for a waiver
• The studies included in Title II assess the impacts of the mandate only after they occur
• The mandate attempts to pick winners and losers in the marketplace, because it does not allow cattle producers to compete on a level playing field with ethanol facilities for each bushel of corn