Over the past three years, fossil fuel and other commodities prices have skyrocketed. There has been a lot of debate as to the cause of these dramatic price increases - ever increasing appetites for fuel, rampant investor speculation, supply constraints, etc.
Without question, US government subsidies for increased production of corn for use in biofuel creation are further distorting markets and having dramatic and unforeseen impacts on the price and availability of many food sources throughout the world. The enhanced incentives for corn production have resulted in increased diversion of agricultural land towards corn and away from many other grains, even as corn on a net basis is taken out of the food supply. This has resulted in shortages of agricultural products across the board, affecting consumers and food industry operators in the US and severely impacting less advantaged people throughout the world.
As many of you know, in this space I tend to focus on entrepreneurial issues. Personally, I’m very interested in the broader issue of developing alternative energy sources, but I’m just a casual reader of the science behind evaluating the viability of corn as a source of renewable energy. From what I’ve learned, corn isn’t a particularly efficient source of net energy creation, to say nothing about its affect on the country’s obesity rates as corn-based sweeteners are increasingly used, and it appears that much of this is a political exercise with unfortunate consequences.
If you’re interested in reviewing various types of agreements that corn producers and suppliers enter into, including supply agreements, to see how they are structured and negotiated, I’ve provided links to preview a few of them below:
- Form of Corn Supply Agreement - Cargill Incorporated
- Corn and Natural Gas Price Risk Management Agreement - Great Plains Ethanol LLC
- Corn Protein Concentrate Marketing Agreement - Quality Technology International, Inc.
Of course, you can search through millions of these and other types of legal agreements and deal clauses directly at RealDealDocs.com.
