August 27, 2008
US animal feed prices up 42 percent
Current market conditions are challenging for meat producers as they face a 41.8 percent increase in prepared animal feeds during the past 12 months ending in July, according to a release from the American Meat Institute (AMI).
Together with the National Chicken Council and the National Turkey Federation, the AMI has issued another call to Congress to reduce or discard the ethanol mandates that have helped driven up corn prices to record levels.
The increase in the Producer Price Index confirms the government's decision to convert a third of the corn crop into ethanol, driving up production costs for meat products and pushing a greater financial burden onto the consumers, according to J. Patrick Boyle, president and chief executive officer of AMI.
Boyle warned that unless the Congress changes the law, meat prices will only keep moving up.
Wholesale prices paid by US businesses rose 1.2 percent in July, while the annual Producer Price Index for finished products surged 9.8 percent in the 12 months ending in July, representing the sharpest increase in 27 years, according to the US Department of Labour.