I Burn Corn

Visit and contribute to the Corn Burner's Wiki, a great place to learn how to burn!  The wiki is a like a book, only it is a book written
by the users and members of this web site.  It contains lots of valuable information about how to get started burning corn, planning steps, first fires and advanced problems.  A great resource!

Much has changed over the four years I have been burning corn.  When I first started, the market price, the price the farmer was getting paid for #2 grade corn,  was $1.43/bu.   Though at that time, various service charges brought the delivered price, at a corn burner's door, to $2.20/bu.  I remember at the time, being quite grumbly about the fact I was being chiseled by my local grain co-op for eighty cents.   I would dearly love to be paying those prices now.  What a difference time makes, eh?

The Associated Press announced last week the market price of corn hit six dollars a bushel.  The highest price in history.  This leaves us corn burners caught between the nation's stomach and it's even more hungry gas tank.  And, that is a very tough spot indeed.  Corn prices are predicted to go even higher as farmers, who are the ultimate cynics, are planting less corn this year than last year.  Farmers don't believe in good luck, not over the long haul anyway.  And, for every jump up in price, they only see a bottom waiting to fall out.  So eight percent less corn is going to be planted this year than last.  The ethanol business survives now because of government subsidies.  If those go away, what happens to the price of corn? The farmers may well be right.

Already many people are calling for government subsidies to end.  I don't see it happening until after the election, but I can't imagine they will last.  Ethanol is just not a good idea.  It is not the clean burning fuel we were initially led to believe.  It is a disaster for local groundwater levels where plants are built.  Vast amounts of natural gas must be consumed in it's manufacture.  It just doesn't make good sense.  All of these things have been heralded by a limited few and generally ignored by the masses. However, because of the sudden rise in the cost of food, everyone is interested.  Interested people call their elected (and wanting to be re-elected) officials and slowly change happens.

We suffered a death in the family today.  My beloved 12 year old, Saab 9000 five door.  Died on I-94 just east of Baldwin WI of transmission failure. I was driving back on I-94 tonight on my way home from work.   It had lived a good life, at 279,000 miles.   But, now this leaves us a car short in the family.   I am pretty sure the wife wants to buy some Japanese import to replace it.  She will quote to me Saab's high repair costs when it did break.  But, it is hard for me, having driven this model of Saabs for about 25 years now.  What I am looking for is a car *exactly* like the car I just had, except 200K less miles.</p>