GARNETT – The wings were busted. Before the Super Bowl, national news media grabbed onto a national chicken council news release that blamed ethanol for a shortage of chicken wings. Wings are a favorite food at Super Bowl parties and in the runup to the Super Bowl, newspapers, television and radio sternly warned about the shortage. The council also claimed high corn prices were due to 40 percent of the corn crop going towards ethanol production. However, the Kansas Corn Commission, based in Garnett, noted as consumers panicked and began to remove chicken wings from their Super Bowl snack menus, the chicken council quickly reversed itself and said the previous claims of a wing shortage were wrong. The corn commission said U.S. Department of Agriculture information that shows the chicken council was playing its own game before the Super Bowl. USDA cold storage data showed 68 percent more chicken wings in storage than last year. The corn commission says strong demand for corn means more corn is planted for all users.
Monday, Feb. 11, 2 p.m.
