Research Study Shows Corn More Valuable as Food than Fuel

In Illinois, the food versus fuel debate gets a new research study supporting the food side. Researchers at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign completed their three year study to assign a dollar amount to each step in corn production for both food and biofuel measuring its value economically and environmentally.

The study focused specifically on corn grown in Illinois and found that corn used for food, usually in livestock feed, had a net gain of $1,492 per hectare, while corn used for biofuel had a net loss of $942 per hectare, making it more economically valuable as food than fuel. Researchers emphasized that the study doesn’t mean one is better than the other, but merely is showing how we as a society value corn as food versus fuel.