Wednesday was a difficult day for The American Independent News Network, which is the larger entity that operates The Iowa Independent. Our chief executive and founder announced two of our sister sites would close and their content would be moved to The American Independent.
A recently introduced bill could have far-reaching impact on the U.S. sugar industry, including American Crystal Sugar, a farmer-owned cooperative that locked out 1,300 Midwest workers on Aug. 1.
The chairman for Herman Cain’s Iowa effort says the campaign “relied more on the word of farmers than Washington regulators” in deciding to run an ad containing claims the Environmental Protection Agency says are false.
The Iowa Senate will remain under the control of a slim 26-25 Democratic majority when it reconvenes in January 2012.
Remember the evil “speculators” who got the blame for the increased prices for corn, fuel, and other commodities over the summer?
They’re baaaack. But for now, some folks are happy to see them.
Six months ago, corngrowers were expecting huge profit margins based on high prices caused by speculators who predicted a corn shortage after the early summer floods. Speculation inflated the price of corn, and then it turned out that this year’s corn harvest was not the biggest ever, but it was much stronger than the speculators expected. The price of corn dropped quickly. Corngrowers have been a bit worried about their significantly shrunken margins ever since.
Over the past couple days of trading, things are finally looking up for the corngrowers. At the Chicago Board of Trade, corn dipped below $3 per bushel for the first time in years last week, and since then the speculators have been at it again.
Corn closed up today on news that next year’s corn harvest is expected to be smaller than this year’s, likely due to decisions farmers made before the price of corn began to increase.
If projections for next year’s corn crop remain low, speculation will likely increase over the coming months, inflating prices again. If the corn crop turns out to be bigger than predicted again, farmers could be in the same boat next year that they were in this year, and the cycle could continue.
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