Archer Daniels Midland blossoms with lots of government help
Agri-biz giant Archer Daniels Midland had a barn-burner of a quarter, sending its stock price to an all-time high. Why is the “Exxon of corn” doing so well? Why, your tax dollars, of course! The federal government shovels billions of dollars of subsidies at field corn; ADM grows it. The government’s sugar quota artificially raises the price of sugar; ADM makes high-fructose corn syrup. And now the government is jacking up subsidies to ethanol, and guess where most of that comes from? Corn. ADM thanks you, Americans, for your support. Tom Philpott investigates in Gristmill.
