Ethanol Demand Makes Corn King in U.S.
The demand for ethanol could mean the biggest U.S. corn planting since World War II, experts say.
With corn prices soaring, some 90.5 million acres are expected to be planted, 15 percent more than in 2006, U.S. Agriculture Department figures show.
There is a down side to the possible banner year, the Christian Science Monitor says.
The weather is always a major factor and a cold, wet spring has delayed planting in many states.
Then there are the prospects of so much corn pushing prices down, an environmental risk to planting more marginal land with such a fertilizer-intensive crop and wide-spread storage and transportation problems after harvest.
Some conservationists are concerned the extra fertilizer needed for corn could cause water contamination near farmland.