Huge jump in (US) corn planting expected

[jpak]

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007703290401

Washington, D.C. - Not since 1981, when President Reagan ended the Soviet grain embargo, have Iowa farmers planted close to the record 14.4 million acres of corn they seeded that year.

<snip>

Analysts are expecting the report to project historic increases in corn acreage both in Iowa and nationally because of soaring grain prices. Everyone from livestock farms to ethanol producers to food processors also will be watching the report because of the importance of farmers' plans to the price of commodities.

<snip>

Nationally, analysts are estimating that corn acreage will increase by about 10 percent or more to levels not seen since the 1940s. In Iowa, ground zero for the nation's booming grain ethanol industry, the increase could even be larger.

Don Roose, president of U.S. Commodities Inc., an investment and analysis firm based in West Des Moines, expects Iowa farmers to plant 15 percent more corn this year, which would just break the 1981 record. In 2006, farmers planted 12.6 million acres to corn in Iowa and 78.3 million nationwide.

<more>

[AnneD]

1. Too bad there won't be

enough bees around to pollinate that GM crap.

[3waygeek]

3. Bees don't pollinate corn...

teenagers do (or at least help it along), in a process called detasseling.

[AnneD]

6. Beg to differ with you ...

Corn can wind pollinate if you have wind, but I have had to hand pollinate AND hope for bees.

Home Gardening

Vegetables: Pollination



"Corn pollen is carried by the wind as it falls from the tassel to the silks of the ears. If anything prevents this wind transfer of pollen, the result is ears with empty rows and missing kernels. Corn planted in a single row loses most of its pollen. This is why corn should be planted in a block of adjacent rows rather than one or two very long rows. High temperatures and drought do not interfere with the transfer of corn pollen but can prevent proper pollination and fertilization, resulting in poorly developed ears.

<snip>
Squash, pumpkins, melons, and most cucumbers are insect-pollinated. In these vegetables, which have the male and female flower parts in separate flowers (yet still on the same plant), insects transfer pollen from male flowers to female flowers while going from flower to flower, collecting nectar and pollen. The most common pollinating insects are honeybees and bumblebees.


Corn pollen is carried by the wind as it falls from the tassel to the silks of the ears.

Bees often are seen on vegetables that are wind- and self-pollinated, where they are collecting pollen and nectar. Since pollinating insects are so important in the garden, it is important to consider them when choosing and applying insecticides. Choose insecticides that are least toxic to bees, and apply them late in the day when bees are not actively working in the garden.

http://msucares.com/lawn/garden/vegetables/pollination/index.html

[JohnWxy]

21. Very interesting. I didn't know that!

[phantom power]

2. what was this land previously? Other crops?

[jpak]

4. orphanages and national parks

:evilgrin:

[XemaSab]

11. You forgot to mention buffalo and Native Americans

:P

[jpak]

7. (seriously) probably soybeans...

http://www.agriculture.com/ag/story.jhtml?storyid=/templatedata/ag/story/data/1172779975433.xml

<snip>

U.S. producers surveyed plan to plant over 12.0 million more corn acres and almost 10.0 million less soybean acres in 2007 compared to last year, according to one market analyst firm.

<snip>

[One_Life_To_Give]

27. Gov't subsidized to lay fallow?

IIRC there are/were government farm subsidies to leave fields unplanted. Hopefully this is just some of the surplus acreage being put back to use.

[NickB79]

28. You do not want to put that land back into cultivation

The government paid farmers through the CPR program to let marginal, highly erodible, or ecologically important land remain unplanted. That surplus acreage that many farmers are plowing up is prime wildlife habitat for songbirds, deer, turkeys, pheasants, ducks, you name it. This land is also a boost to hunters, who spend billions of dollars a year in local communities on hunting clothing and equipment.

CPR land is also usually on fairly poor soils that will require huge investments of nitrogen fertilizers and often on sloping land that will erode readily without careful planning using grassy contour strips. Any rivers, streams, or lakes downslope of these lands will be silted, resulting in a decrease in aquatic life. Any trout streams downslope may be silted out, and trout fishing is another activity that invests large sums of money to local communities.

[DCKit]

5. But I'll bet the corn lobby is still working hard for increased subsidies

Who'd a thought?

[JohnWxy]

16. the Republican controlled congress passed a bill to end Cotton export subsidies and sent it to bush

for signature in Feb 2006. He still hasn't signed it. The WTO found the US guilty of using export subsidies to drive down it's prices for cotton exports. The cost of these subsidies?..$4 Billion per year. the amount of acreage planted in cotton is about 138% of the acres planted in corn for ethanol.

If we stopped the $4 Billion in export subsidies, cotton would no longer be profitable to grow. NOt all but given the demand for corn many cotton farmers could choose to plant corn (while some areas where cotton is grown would not be suitable for corn, areas where cotton is grown in Mississippi, alabama, Louisiana, Georgia would be fine for corn). If cotton was no longer profitable, you could concievably double the area planted in corn for ethanol (not double the whole corn crop). OF course, if this happened too quickly the price of corn would drop and the increased production would stop. But done gradually, it would certainly keep corn prices in check.

--- and the third world farmers planting corn just to survive would be able to sell there product without being undercut by U.S. growers. AND we'd be saving 4$ Billion per year from the cotton export subsidies not paid!

BTW cotton is NOT a food crop.


Also, as the supply of ethanol increases this provides some check against gasoline prices. At teh rate we are going, ethanol should equal 5% of the fuel supply is 2 to 3 years. this will help moderated gasoline prices somewhat (barring supply disruptions from IRan, venequeala or NIger, of course).

[YankeyMCC]

8. And the monoculture expands...long live the corn people

- unfortunately that's very unlikely if we continue on the path we're going on.

[JohnWxy]

23. When "the Corn People" start staggering towards you hit 'em with a focused micro-wave beam and they

turn into popped corn. :popcorn: :rofl:

sorry, guess I'm a little tired.

[YankeyMCC]

25. S'ok...

sometimes you gotta just find something to laugh at. ;)

[Dead_Parrot]

9. A pity the yeild per acre is nosediving

Still, it's be funny to watch. Unless you like eating.

[JohnWxy]

13. Bullshit. Corn yield has been going up 3.5% per year for 35 yrs. 2006 yield was the second highest

on record. http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/usda/current/CropProdSu/CropProdSu-01-12-2007.pdf

" The average U.S. grain yield (for 2006_JW) is estimated at 149.1 bushels per acre, down 2.1 bushels from the November forecast but 1.1 bushels above 2005. The 2006 yield estimate is the second highest on record, behind 2004, while the production estimate is the third largest on record. Area harvested for grain, at 70.6 million acres, is down 6 percent from 2005."


http://rael.berkeley.edu/EBAMM/EBAMM_SOM_1_1.pdf

"Figure S-1 shows that average corn yield on U.S.
farms has increased by 3.5% annually over the last 35 years"




get your facts straight.

[jpak]

14. Beat me to it

:toast:

[JohnWxy]

15. LOL - for once!!

I meant, for once I beat you to it.

[Dead_Parrot]

17. Awww, that's so cute.

In nasty reality-land, 2006's yield (like 2005's) is staying under 150 bushels/acre, with the US 2 years into a climate-change induced drought:



But over in fluffy-land, Wxy is drawing 35-year trend lines and announcing that 2007's yield will be 167.6 bushels/acre (based on 2004 figures and a 3.5% annual growth).

Putting any money on that, John?

[JohnWxy]

18. YOur use of "nosediving" was clearly wrong. I'll stand on that.

How much corn do you think they grow in Colorado or Arizona (checking your map)? (TExas grows more corn than Colorado) The biggest corn growing states are Ohio, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Nebraska, Minnesota, South Dakota, Missouri and Montana and Wisconsin. Nebraska on a yield basis did quite well, beating out Ohio, Montana, Missouri and Minnesota.

http://www.corn.org/web/uscprod.htm

BTW, knowledgeable parties a predicting continued gains in yields for corn. Seed companies already have drought tolerant varieties ready to go.

Is "nosediving" an accurate description? NO. It's Bullshit.

[jpak]

19. Beat me to it again!!

Right now, most of the Corn (and Soybean) Belt is in good shape with soil moisture, and most of the Southeast is "abnormally dry" but in drought condition.

If this holds through August, it should be a good crop year for much of the US...

[JohnWxy]

20. Well, I guess I'm batting about .002 then. "Two"! ..makes Joe Garagiola look like DiMaggio!

[jpak]

24. Heh - here's the lastest Long Term Palmer Drought Index map...

http://www.weatherimages.org/data/imag273.html

[Dead_Parrot]

26. Maybe "nosediving" was a bit strong...

"Plateaued" is how Jpak put it, so why he's jumping up and down waving pom-poms is anybodies guess.

If you're happy about the fact only half the US is currently under drought in April then you are definitely on planet Fluffy. I posted that to remind you the drought is still on-going, so let's look at the forecast, shall we? (Bottom image)



I hope Georgia & Tennessee are going to be big grain producers, since I was unaware that any drought-tolerant strains produced anything like the sort of yields you're talking about, and most of the Corn belt seems to have turned yellow and orange. Perhaps you'd like to provide a link to sombody getting 160 bushels/acre from drought-resistant strains? under drought conditions, naturally.

"BTW, knowledgeable parties a predicting continued gains in yields for corn."

I'm confused. How can you have "continued gains" when they've already stopped and the yields are sliding back? Or is this the same "knowledgeable parties" who see continued growth in oil use for the next 30 years?

[Eugene]

10. Huge corn crop to support high U.S. diesel prices - Reuters

Source: Reuters

Huge corn crop to support high U.S. diesel prices
Fri Mar 30, 2007 3:11PM EDT

By Matthew Robinson - Analysis

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Expectations of a bumper U.S. corn crop will keep diesel
prices high this year as farmers rev up tractors and harvesters to meet rising
demand for grain-based ethanol.

Diesel prices have surged ahead of planting season, which the U.S. government
said Friday will see the largest amount of land allocated to corn in 63 years as
the world's top oil consumer ramps up use of the gasoline additive.

Industry experts say the rising agricultural demand, combined with truck and
rail shipping, should keep cash diesel prices at high premium to heating oil
futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

"I think diesel is already in extremely tight supply and the agricultural bubble
that occurs in the spring and in the fall is going to be exacerbated by intense
farm demand," said Lewis Adam of Kansas City-based ADMO Energy, LLC.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/reutersEdge/idUSN3049541920070330

[tom_paine]

12. Just when it is beginning that GM corn might be responsible for steep bee declines

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,473166,00.html

[Jim Warren]

22. Oh Joy

Here we go offering up the last best six inches of topsoil in the grain belt to the this crock of shit idea.