Debate erupts in Lithuania over farmer’s proposal to heat buildings with wheat

to buy pellets or firewood. Wheat costs €140 per ton, while pellets cost €260. So we heat our buildings with food-grade wheat and save money. We can even offer dried, first-grade food wheat for just €200 per ton from our warehouses,” wrote farmer Ed Sasnauskas on his Facebook page. Naturalist Mindaugas Ryla noted that while farmers are free to use their products, wheat is grown with EU subsidies, and selling it for heating purposes is “unethical,” since taxpayers fund its production. “It gives the impression that we simply have a surplus of grain. Can a farmer do that? I don’t know — maybe it’s a marketing trick. But the post sounds radical, especially from an environmental standpoint: fertilizers and pesticides are used in grain cultivation, and we all feel their effects,” Ryla said. Vice President of the Lithuanian Farmers’ Union Martynas Puidokas added that grain market prices have fallen so low that sales no longer cover production costs. “This doesn’t affect food prices ...