Zell, Chris wrote:
I think US farmers can handle this without a return to slavery.
Absolutely! They do this by replacing human labor with machinery, energy intense production methods, fertilizer and pesticides. That is why U.S. agriculture is the most efficient in the world, measured in output per man-hour. That is also why it takes them 1.7 units of input energy to produce 1.0 units of ethanol fuel energy. (Or, if you believe the industry flacks, 0.6 to 1.0, which is almost as bad from a practical point of view.)
- Jed
