Farmers are choosing Ethanol over beer, and that has some restaurants worried.
CHARLOTTE -- The price of beer is up 3 percent from this time last year, according to the National Labor Department, and it could all be to blame on actions taken to lower the price at the pump.
As farmers dedicate more of their land to growing corn, a key ingredient in the production of Ethanol, less land is being used to grow crops crucial to the production of beer.
The price of beer is up.
Ethanol is being used as a means of providing drivers with a cheaper form of power for their vehicles as the price of gasoline has continued to rise. All this has led to the price of barley increasing 17 percent already this year.
“They’re squeezing every penny out of us with the Ethanol thing,” said John Breiner, owner of Ed’s Tavern.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said farmers have planted more than 92 million acres of corn this year, the most since 1944. Economists predict the increase in Ethanol production will lead to the prices of other grains such as rice and wheat also increasing.