The other day, I was chatting with a co-worker over lunch when the topic of ethanol came up. “I think it’s great what this could mean for our industry,” he said, “but I’m worried with all the attention being put on ethanol, other areas will be ignored.”
Thinking about this, I commented to my co-worker that he shouldn’t be that surprised by all the ethanol-focused attention. After all, ethanol is like a new love interest — very attractive in its promise to provide some much-needed excitement, but a relative unknown because no one is exactly sure how well it will compare with the industry’s previous loves such as glyphosate and biotechnology when the spring season rolls around.
Don’t get me wrong. In many ways, I’m just as infatuated with ethanol and the promise of prosperity it could bring as the next person. In fact, I’ve said as much in some prior columns during the past few months.
But looking at the bigger picture, I’m beginning to see a disturbing pattern emerge — one where the pursuit of new love ethanol is leaving many existing (but important) loves without any partners in sight.
Last issue, Group Editor Paul Schrimpf discussed the latest effort by retail giant Wal-Mart — sustainability. The company has long been able due to its clout to demand its suppliers make changes to their products — such as reducing the amount of material used to package a product. Eventually, Wal-Mart wants to extend this model to “inspire” chemical manufacturers to consider more sustainable products to protect the environment.
I whole heartedly agree with Paul that sustainability is an existing love interest our industry needs to embrace tightly as we move through 2007 and beyond. We also should remember to hold tightly to environmental stewardship and conservation — two other loves we as an industry have flirted with on and off for many years.
Given the expected impact corn growth and ethanol production could have on the marketplace, it’s important that ag retailers don’t lose sight of these other initiatives. Otherwise, we could be giving our still vocal critics plenty of ammunition to attack the quest for renewable, alternative fuels.
Don’t believe me? Consider this comment from a columnist in a recent issue of Newsweek magazine, discussing the negatives ethanol production could have on the nation: “Ethanol produces just slightly more energy than it takes to manufacture it. But now that the government is rigging energy markets with mandates, tariffs, and subsidies, ethanol production might consume half of next year’s corn crop. Forests will be felled (will fewer trees mean more global warming?) to clear land for growing corn, which requires fertilizer, the manufacture of which requires energy.”
From this statement, it should be clear that our industry needs to be prepared to defend its practices even more diligently in the ethanol age than ever before. In this potentially hostile climate, existing love interests such as sustainability, environmental stewardship, and conservation will continue to shape how our market is perceived by the general public.
In this respect, our industry’s love interests should never be limited to just a single new one — no matter how attractive it happens to be.
