Despite being on the cutting-edge of agriculture, America’s small ethanol collectives face the same problem as generations of farmers before them: when to sell, when to hoard, and when to play the market for all it’s worth.

After decades of near-poverty, many Midwestern corn growers banded together to build ethanol plants, staking their future on anything that could bring them more than $2 a bushel. As ethanol prices rose steadily through last year, those farmers reaped huge dividends, large enough to bring Wall St. investors to Main St. USA. Yet millions of dollars in offers have been left on the table as wary farmers weigh their pride against their distrust of Big Business.

So far, only two collectively-owned plants have been sold. Wall St. may be able to predict the future market for ethanol but they just can’t seem to penetrate the hundreds of social layers surrounding these plants. Having endured generations of economic helplessness, farmers have fierce independent streaks, an ingrained doubt about Wall St., and an enormous pride in ownership all centered around the ethanol facility. To sell the plant – at least to some farmers – would be like selling their freedom, sending them back to square one.

Perhaps Wall St., after a dozen years of dealing with the latest dot-com wunderkind, has simply forgotten how to handle people with such an intense loyalty to their business and their way of life.

Link to New York Times

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See Also: Farmers Try Hail Cannons,Weeding Robot,70% of Americans would go eco-friendly,

This entry was posted by Jeffrey Goodman on Thursday, November 2nd, 2006 at 10:53 am and is filed under Environment, Social Change, Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.