RFS not to blame for high price of frozen turkey

In the US, the National Turkey Federation blamed the Renewable Fuels Standard for the high price of frozen turkey, which came in at around $1.60/pound this year. Yet, Corinne Alexander of Purdue University noted that corn prices dropped by more than 50 percent this year from 2013, and that the renewable fuel standard’s role as a primary driver of elevated prices “is hard to argue with the drop in feed costs this year due to a good crop.” She told the Chicago Tribune that “the low-priced feed is just coming in now… by next year, we’ll be looking at lower turkey prices.”

“The renewable fuel standard has increased the demand for corn substantially,” says Jason Hill, professor of bioproducts and biosystems engineering at the University of Minnesota. Yet, he adds, “At the same time, how have farmers responded to this? So much land has been planted for corn – you can’t even say corn prices would be lower because there wouldn’t be as much land planted in the first place.”

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