One of this year’s big inflation stories is that food prices are rising,  in large part because  the ethanol boom has driven up corn prices. But Rick Tolman, chief executive of the St. Louis-based National Corn Growers Association, is accusing Tyson Foods CEO Richard Bond of exaggerating that story.

 In an essay on the Corn Growers’ Web site, Tolman accuses Bond and other Tyson executives of making “irresponsible, misleading and self serving” comments about the food-price situation.

Tolman says he was  in the audience at an investment conference in March, when Tyson executives talked about the higher costs they were facing. He says Tyson exaggerated the problem by talking about $4-plus corn, when the U.S. Department of Agriculture was forecasting an average price of $3.20 a bushel.   Noting that  Tyson recently reported strong second-quarter earnings, Tolman continues:

 I am honestly concerned about the average livestock producer and the tighter margins they face. Livestock is our number one customer and we want the livestock industry to be strong and profitable. I also am concerned about retail food prices. I have five children and they love a good hamburger or chickenburger. We certainly do not want to be a cause for significant retail price increases. And, I certainly feel badly for the plight of the poor around the world. We have a duty and an obligation to do what we can to lift their lot in life. But the fact is that nothing close to what has been reported in sensational headlines regarding the impact of the price of corn on food and on the poor has occurred.