What is a potential impact of corn ethanol on agriculture?

What is a potential impact of corn ethanol on agriculture?

• A. Reduces Food Prices.
• B. Competes for Land Use and Can Raise Food Prices.
• C. Has No Effect.
• D. Improves Water Quality.

Answer: (B)

Producing corn ethanol raises demand for corn, pulling more farmland, water, and inputs into corn production. This competition for land between fuel and food crops can reduce the amount of land available for other foods and push food prices higher, especially when corn supplies are tight. That’s why the potential impact is that corn ethanol competes for land use and can raise food prices. The other options don’t fit because increasing corn use for fuel typically doesn’t lower food prices, it can even affect prices upward; it doesn’t have no effect, since market demand and land use shifts do create changes; and water quality isn’t automatically improved—fertilizer runoff from expanded corn production can harm water quality rather than improve it.

Producing corn ethanol raises demand for corn, pulling more farmland, water, and inputs into corn production. This competition for land between fuel and food crops can reduce the amount of land available for other foods and push food prices higher, especially when corn supplies are tight. That’s why the potential impact is that corn ethanol competes for land use and can raise food prices. The other options don’t fit because increasing corn use for fuel typically doesn’t lower food prices, it can even affect prices upward; it doesn’t have no effect, since market demand and land use shifts do create changes; and water quality isn’t automatically improved—fertilizer runoff from expanded corn production can harm water quality rather than improve it.