Experts predict we could soon be paying $4.50 a gallon

No, I am not referring to gasoline. I am referring to a more necessary item... milk.

I don't have kids so I really didn't pay attention to this until recently when I noticed that my 1/2 gallon of milk cost what I remember my mother paying for a gallon about 10 years ago. Although I do shamefully admit I had noticed that ice cream had passed $5 a half gallon and that many "half gallons" of ice cream are now only 48 ounces. That I knew was due in large part to the worldwide demand for butter fat. But the milk angle was one I wasn't paying too much attention to.

Then last week agricultural experts predicted milk could hit $4.50 a gallon by August.
And why? The increased demand for dairy products both in the US and abroad is one reason. Yes, we are exporting a huge percentage of our milk supply to India and China, and when an item is in demand the price goes up. There is also a dearth of smaller dairies meaning we rely more and more on the super-dairies in the Midwest. Again common sense issues, but almost forgotten is the issue that feed prices are at near record highs and causing the dairy farmers largest expense to drive up the cost of milk and milk products.

And why are feed costs up? Corn derived ethanol!!!

So thanks to the corn lobby and moonbat environmentalists we can expect to be hearing about the next African crisis. India, China and other developing countries are buying US milk and feed grain driving up the costs of those products, making it difficult for underdeveloped countries to afford these necessities. So they can't afford the milk and they can't afford the feed to produce their own milk unless they sacrifice improvements to their infrastructure.

And that means they will not be able to produce sufficient quantities of fresh water to take care of their cattle or their children, forcing them to use unsanitary water to reconstitute the milk. So the next African crisis, large scale starvation and surging child mortality are in the foreseeable future.

(In case you've forgotten, corn ethanol uses more energy than it yields, and while it emits less carbon from the tail pipe when it burns the distilling process yields quite a bit... and the emissions are not clean, just lower in carbon... plus it drives up the costs of everything made with corn or corn derivatives, including meat and dairy products... corn ethanol is a step towards energy independence, not to help the environment, and what good is energy independence if you can't afford to eat?)