Posted on 06/14/2014 5:53:01 AM PDT by bestintxas
According to a new article at the Guardian, corn-mageddon could be just around the corner in the United States because of anthropogenic climate change:
"The days of 'king corn' could be numbered as climate change brings higher temperatures and water shortages to America's farmland, a new report warned on Wednesday...
The report amplifies warnings earlier this year from United Nations climate scientists and the National Climate Assessment that America's agricultural industry -- and specifically its corn crop -- was at risk from the high temperatures and water shortages anticipated under climate change...
Corn uses the most water for irrigation of any crop, and accounts for half of all fertiliser use. Some of that corn is raised in areas experiencing water shortages because of over-use and recurring droughts, such as California's Central Valley or the high plains states of Kansas and Nebraska...
Recent studies have found corn at high risk from the higher temperatures, changing rainfall patterns, and water shortages caused by climate change. Corn plants are especially sensitive to heatwaves and drought. A report in Science last month found that growers were having more trouble than initially expected in adapting to hotter and drier conditions.
The scientists said growers in the mid-west could lose as much as 15% of their yield within the next 50 years."
There is a lot of alarmism here that needs to be countered.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
You didn’t get my reference.
Kruschev wanted to make corn the staple grain of theSoviet Union instead of wheat. The climate in Russia was, and is, inhospitable. This program, and similar “hare-brained” schemes is why he was pushed out.
If the U.S. gets too hot and dry for raising corn, it stands to reason that the new climate might be just right for Russia and Canada to take it up.
The problem this growing season is getting out into the fields because of flooding rains across the Plains. Don’t these people keep up with the weather?
And yes, quit requiring ethanol that cuts food supply, cuts miles per gallon engine efficiency, and increases engine life and we will have more than enough corn.
Error: meant to say DECREASES engine life….
“Corn is already selling at or below the cost of production. How will that work out long term?”
Huge amounts of land have been converted to corn production from other grains in order to take advantage of an artificial market caused by ethanol subsidies,
no subsidies = back to marketplace and other grains are grown and everything goes down in price.
I raise cattle and feed is at an alltime high, so beef prices are in the stratosphere
“We already have too much corn, as proven by market prices. “
corn market is artificial due to govt ethanol subsidies.
need to get rid of subsidies and let market stabilize true value
In full sun a cornfield will deplete the CO2 to nearly zero. Corn and other C4 plants evolved due to the relatively recent CO2 starvation on the planet. Corn will obviously grow better with more manmade CO2, the only bad thing is that C3 weeds will also be more competitive.
“The moral is that socialism is a much more dangerous threat than minor climate change”
And that is what Republican politicians should be saying in every ad. This should be a non stop war against the left.
Hmm...
It’ll take an economist to figure out that scenario.
The marketplace would be good for livestock producers. US government interference leads to LOWER prices and LOWER margins. Government spending covers up the real costs.
Probably an engineered crisis anyway. For some reason, all the fields near my town that are usually corn fields grew wheat this year. Even one that is used for hay and another that grew sunflowers grew wheat this year.
Yes, 40% of the U.S. corn crop now is used for ethanol, but this has been accomplished while still meeting traditional food, feed, and export demand. The ethanol buildout was feedstocked by higher production, and corn yields continue to increase. People in the business expect national average yield to reach 200 bushels an acre in the mid-term, and higher down the road. The current winners in the annual corn yield contests are commonly over 300 bushels an acre, which is ten times the average yield at the end of WWII.
From the farmers' standpoint, a bushel of corn converted into ethanol and DDGS is significantly more valuable than the same bushel sold as feed. Prices are volatile, but just to toss out some ballpark numbers, if commodity corn is $4.75 a bushel and the same bushel converted to ethanol and DDGS is $7-7.50, the choice is pretty clear.
From a motorist's standpoint, ethanol reduces the cost of gasoline by providing a cost effective competitor to petroleum (which is why the oil industry hates ethanol). At a 10% blend, ethanol will reduce mileage because its energy density is lower than gasoline, but at higher blends, the mileage penalty would disappear because the octane boost would more than compensate. But that would require evolving towards E30 or E40 blend levels, which is a long term proposition. If third generation feedstocks (e.g. algae) hit a suitable price point, however, I would expect this to happen fairly promptly.
Right... corn uses the C4 photosynthetic pathway, which functions at higher temperatures where other plants shut off photosynthesis.
The largest provision of water for the Midwest is from the Oglala aquifer (the big circle in the middle of the map.)
http://theparagraph.com/wp-content/articles/post109/us_uncon-semi.gif
Importantly, the fruitcake Ted Turner has tried very hard to buy up every square inch of land over the aquifer, likely for a nefarious reason, like turning it over to some eco-nut group to put off limits to farmers when he dies.
http://i.imgur.com/nAmQYkE.jpg
However, assuming that he is defeated in his quest for ruination of Americas farm belt, and problem and a solution have emerged about the Oglala.
That is, that close to a century of farming has reduced the fixed amount of the glacially created water in the aquifer, so that it is starting to dry up in its shallower reaches, such as in Texas.
So, to insure plentiful water in the aquifer, there is an idea to create a man made river from Canada, through North Dakota, to South Dakota and the northern edge of the aquifer, with the intent to pump that water underground into the aquifer.
Corn yields have done nothing but increase, and the recent rains across the central plains states will raise the yield even higher. I have the chart of corn yields, but it’s on my computer and I’m on my phone.
I think you are arguing that prices would be lower with out government involvement, and that’s true.
The problem for farmers, and consumers is that current prices are below cost of production.
Short term lower prices are certainly a possibility, but not sustained lower prices.
Of course. :)
We are burning food for fuel?
Who would have known.
Octane and BTU's are two very different things.
The Ogallala Aquifer is running dry.
It would be far simpler to dam the Platte River in eastern Nebraska and pump that water down into the aquifer.
Gee...the last time it was AGW-increased CO2. They must’ve figured out that CO2 ‘helps’ agriculture and chose to be equally ignorant by doubling down in demonstrating they know nothing about agriculture at all, let alone corn...
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