"Nationwide and here at home, we are looking at a great corn crop," Geske says. "Even with the curveballs thrown by Mother Nature, Missouri farmers are optimistic that this year's harvest will be one for the record books."

Responding in part to growing demand created by the farmer-owned ethanol industry, Missouri growers planted 30 percent more corn than last year. According to the USDA, farmers are expecting to harvest 3.38 million acres of the 3.50 million planted acres, the largest acreage since 1960. The projected yield for Missouri's corn crop is estimated at 137 bushels per acre.

Nationally, corn production is forecast at 13.1 billion bushels. If realized, the 2007 corn harvest would represent the most corn acres for grain since 1933.

Yet in the face of a bumper crop, critics of the ethanol industry have blamed biofuels for higher prices at the grocery store. However, a recent report issued by John M. Urbanchuk, director of LECG, LLC, a nationally recognized economic forecasting group, found that rising energy prices have twice the impact on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for food than does the price of corn.

"Some people may not realize a 14-ounce box of corn flakes that costs $2.79 only contains about 10 ounces of milled corn. If corn is $3.50 per bushel, that box of corn flakes contains approximately 3.9 cents of corn," Geske says. "Corn is only a small part of the equation. There are a whole host of other factors - transportation, packaging, labor, advertising - that play a much greater role in influencing the final price that consumers see."

While accounting for a small part of a family's food budget, corn contributes a sizable portion of Missouri's economic equation. In 2006, growers in the Show-Me State harvested over 2.6 million acres of corn with a value of more than $1.1 billion to the state's economy. That value multiplies as the crop feeds the state's livestock, produces homegrown ethanol or is exported to other states and across the globe.

"Corn growers are actively working alongside our friends in the livestock industry to continue the long tradition of feeding and now fueling the world," states Geske.

To learn more about the Missouri corn industry, visit www.mocorn.org. A copy of Urbanchuk's report can be found www.ethanolrfa.org.