Grist | Topics | 5 Results

RESULTS		Results 1 – 5 of 5
Headline	Author	Published	Section
Aw, Shucks Food prices are high, and so are Big Ag's profits		30 Apr 2008	News
Posted at 10:29 AM on 30 Apr 2008 Food prices hitting you hard in the pocketbook? Agriculture giant Archer Daniels Midland feels for you, it really does -- but gee, its profits jumped 42 percent this quarter, so it can't really empathize. ADM's grain-processing division is doing lively business keeping up with the bumper corn crop. And, they'll have you know, high food prices are due to high oil prices, not to the ethanol push. Backing ...
Topics: agriculture, biofuels, business, energy, food, industrial ag, news (all these topics)

Biofuels: good for agrochemical/GMO biz GMO giant Monsanto wows Wall Street, consolidates its grip on South America	Tom Philpott	13 Feb 2008	Gristmill
While debate rages on Gristmill and elsewhere about whether biofuels are worth a damn ecologically, investors in agribusiness firms are quietly counting their cash.As corn and soy prices approach all-time highs, driven up by government biofuel mandates, farmers are scrambling to plant as much as they can -- and lashing the earth with chemicals to maximize yields. At a Wall Street meeting on Tuesday, genetically modified seed/herbicide giant Monsanto promised investors ...
Topics: agriculture, Argentina, Big Ag, biofuels, Brazil, business, energy, food, GMOs, industrial ag (all these topics)

Monsanto counts its cash Seed-and-chemical giant sees its profit triple	Tom Philpott	04 Jan 2008	Gristmill
In a gold rush, the firms that supply the gold diggers with tools -- not the gold diggers themselves -- make the highest and steadiest profits. That's a platitude, but it's also usually true. And it's now playing out in the boom in corn-based ethanol. Don't waste much time envying corn farmers. Sure, they've seen the price of their product double over the past year and a half or so. But they've also seen their costs inch up. Fertilizer, land rents (much of the farml ...
Topics: agriculture, biofuels, business, energy, ethanol, food, industrial ag (all these topics)

High crop prices, more chemicals All hail the biofuel boom	Tom Philpott	01 Nov 2007	Gristmill
A UN official recently declared biofuels a "crime against humanity," because they leach agricultural resources from feeding people and direct them to feeding cars. But one man's crime is another's boon. Surging biofuel use encourages farmers to maximize yield over all other considerations -- and they do so by lashing the earth with all manner of chemicals. That's why shareholders in agrochemical companies are celebrating the explosive growth of biofuel ...
Topics: agriculture, biofuels, business, energy, industrial ag (all these topics)

Big Ethanol Economists say that only the largest ethanol producers will survive	Tom Philpott	21 Aug 2007	Gristmill
Of all the arguments in favor of government backing for corn-based ethanol, only one seems even remotely reasonable to me: that it could lead to real economic development in depressed areas of the Midwest. The theory goes like this: When farmers pool resources and build their own ethanol plants, they'll capture much higher profits than by merely selling corn to big buyers like ADM and Cargill. According to an article in today's Wisconsin State Journal, that ratio ...
Topics: agriculture, biofuels, business, energy, industrial ag (all these topics)

Stories About: agriculture AND biofuels AND business AND energy AND industrial ag