could 60 and 6 be coming to an end....

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The problem stems from the fact that the federal government is mandating ethanol usage in the country, a move begun in the Bush administration that has accelerated under President Obama. As every grocery shopper knows, the use of corn in the production of ethanol has caused a severe spike in grain prices.

In August, corn reached a record-high price of $8.49 per bushel. As recently as 2005, it was $1.96 a bushel.

That hits waterfowl hunters especially hard because farmers across the fruited plain are draining wetlands and other marginal farm lands to put in crops to take advantage of the windfall.

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Last summer, Reynolds explained, the prairie pothole region had a record number of breeding ducks, which, of course, is a good thing. But the pond counts declined 35 percent.

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