
US Corn Crop Failure - Red_Tarsius
https://www.ianwelsh.net/us-corn-crop-failure/
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teslabox
I think it is a fundamental mistake to base human society's agricultural
efforts around corn and soybeans. Corn is more efficient at making
carbohydrates from sunlight than many other plants [0], but mono-cropping [1]
corn loses whatever efficiency might be gained.

Grains are useful because they can be stored for years before they're used.
Chickens, pork and other animals are fed grain because it's convenient for
mega-businesses that don't have enough kitchen scraps to feed their millions
of animals.

Potatoes are much better food for humans (and animals), but they are a living
food that have to be used right away, or processed/preserved for later use
(dried/frozen/etc).

I have a book somewhere that says the dairy cow is the most efficient means of
converting the grass on a rocky slope into human-usable protein.

Agriculture is fundamentally a labor-intensive endeavor. The replacement of
the mixed (family) farm with monocrops is a great vulnerability, no matter the
cause of unpredictable weather.

Corn-based ethanol is stupid, full-stop. If the corn crop does fail this year,
I wonder how much corn can be saved by stopping the ethanol plants. In the
future, maybe ethanol could be made from corn that hasn't been used after 7-10
years in storage, or from corn that becomes moldy while being stored.

[0]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C4_carbon_fixation#Plants_that...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C4_carbon_fixation#Plants_that_use_C4_carbon_fixation)

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monocropping#Soil_ecology](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monocropping#Soil_ecology)

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bayareanative
Yes, it's a bad situation. The article makes an error that is noted by Paul
Beckwith: there is no "deadline" for crops anymore as there's only previous
"guidelines." Farmers have to guess and gamble about more uncertain and
variable future weather if they will be able to plant.
[https://youtu.be/Z-QenYgC8oM](https://youtu.be/Z-QenYgC8oM)

