Senate Ag Committee on Ethanol to Be Held in Omaha

By: iStockAnalyst
Wednesday, July 30, 2008 9:52 PM
By Joseph Morton, Omaha World-Herald, Neb.

Jul. 30--WASHINGTON -- The role of ethanol in rising food costs will be at the heart of a Senate Agriculture Committee field hearing in Omaha next month.

In announcing the Aug. 18 hearing, Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., said Wednesday that the committee chairman, Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, agreed to hold it in the face of what Nelson called an ongoing "smear campaign" against ethanol. Harkin plans to attend, an aide said.

Ethanol plants have been consuming more of the country's corn crop, driving up prices for corn and other grains. That, in turn, affects the price of other agricultural commodities such as meat, dairy products and eggs, because farmers use corn to feed livestock.

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