The only thing we agree on is correlation and causation are two different things.
Demand drives price.
"
USDA estimates nearly 40 percent of last year’s corn crop will be used for ethanol production"
Increase demand of most anything, what happens to price? duh...........hint it doesn't go down....
"Increases of corn used for fuel production puts pressure on corn prices, demand for cropland, and the price of animal feed. Those effects, in turn, have raised the price of many farm commodities (such as soybeans, meat, poultry, and dairy products) and, consequently, the retail price of food. "
"puts pressure.....have raised the price .." Showing other factors that have changed (I'll leave the word "correlate" out of this) does not disprove this fact.
Primary cost of virtually all crops grown in North America is cost of capital and seed cost not fertilizer and pesticide.