The Corn Is Dying All Over America

[Islander]

Michael Snyder
July 10, 2012

All over America the corn is dying. If drought conditions persist in the middle part of the country, wheat and soybeans will be next. Weeks of intense heat combined with extraordinarily dry conditions have brought many U.S. corn farmers to the brink of total disaster. If there is not significant rainfall soon, many farmers will be financially ruined.

This period of time is particularly important for corn because this is when pollination is supposed to happen. But the unprecedented heat and the extremely dry conditions are playing havoc with that process. With each passing day things get even worse. We have seen the price of a bushel of corn soar 41 percent (http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-07-08/u-dot-s-dot-corn-growers-farming-in-hell-as-heat-spreads-commodities#p2) since June 14th. That is an astounding rise. You may not eat much corn directly, but it is important to realize that corn or corn syrup is just about in everything these days. Just look at your food labels. In the United States today, approximately 75 percent of all processed foods contain corn. So a huge rise in the price of corn is going to be felt all over the supermarket. Corn is also widely used to feed livestock, and if this crisis continues we are going to see a significant rise in meat and dairy prices as well. Food prices in America have already been rising at a steady pace, and so this is definitely not welcome news.

Read more: http://www.infowars.com/the-corn-is-dying-all-over-america/

[Mr. Wizard]

If the corn crop continues to die, it will not just impact the U.S. but the rest of the world too!! According to the USDA, the U.S. exports about 20% of it corn crop. So, this will definitely be felt by the rest of the world, as 20% represents about 16 million acres of corn.

[highlander]

And we need that much corn for what reason? We don't need processed food. Cows shouldn't be eating corn either. (Pardon my ignorance; but I really don't get it. I like an occasional bowl of popcorn or maybe some organic blue corn chips once in a while but I don't understand the millions of acres unless it's all political. Silly me. Of course it's political.)
But the drought is a problem any way you look at it.

[Julieanne]

Cornflakes highlander? Must be a lot grown for those. We are having a dry winter here, which is when wheat is grown, so could have the same problem. Australia exports a lot of wheat.

[Islander]

It's not just HFCS, corn is present in some form in almost every processed food on the market. Either Fast Food Nation or Omnivore's Dilemma goes into detail, but you don't have to read a book, just walk up and down the aisles reading labels. The entire commercial beef feedlot industry is set up for corn. In fact it's the main ingredient for all livestock feed, so you'll see that reflected in the price of not just meat but eggs, dairy etc.

[bmc65]

Maybe we will be forced to find a more sustainable way of eating and farming. Islander when one of us on HH walks up and down the aisles, all we see is stuff upon stuff we can live without.
As highlander said the drought is bad anyway. Other things will have trouble growing as well.

[Islander]

Anyone who has a piece of land, anywhere, right now would be a fool not to put it into production in some way. Backyard chix, vegetable garden, a fruit tree or two, whatever you can, to move toward food independence.

[bmc65]

Yes how about all those suburb houses with large front and back yards? That is a great deal of farm land waiting to be put to use. I can't remember, but I did see a piece somewhere about a person/family that put their entire yard to use for farming. They laid it out in such a way that it was still decorative and pleasing to look at. For instance fruit trees in the front for shade and contrast in levels. I remember different beds were broken up with stones. Pretty and functional.

[Katee]

I don't really follow this blog anymore: The Urban Homestead (http://urbanhomestead.org/journal/), but last i read they were growing about 6,000 pounds of produce on their place every year. It isn't big. They are very much into sustainable living and are trying to be a model for that. I'm pretty sure they are Seventh Day Adventists (or something similar) and live vegetarian, so their chickens, ducks and goats are for eggs and milk only.

We keep meaning to get over to visit it someday, but it isn't close to where we are during the week and is quite out of our way on the way home. They have the advantage of the Southern California climate which allows nearly year round gardening if you plan it well.

This blog fell out of favor with a lot of people because the title "Urban Homestead" is trademarked/copyrighted, whatever. When they went to enforce that, it met with a lot of ill feelings. I didn't know what to think. I've since learned that if you hold a trademark/copyright and don't enforce it, even once ("They don't mean harm and aren't making money from its use"), you lose the right to enforce it later.

We are very garden-challenged here. The soil does not support plants well, our fruit trees rarely produce because of the extreme climate, and i just seem to be a hopeless gardener. But i still keep trying!

[highlander]

We are very garden-challenged here. The soil does not support plants well, our fruit trees rarely produce because of the extreme climate, and i just seem to be a hopeless gardener. But i still keep trying!
That's us as well. My husband did build a greenhouse about a month ago. I'm challenged as to how to prep it on the inside. Shelves? Do I buy dirt? $$$ I actually planted spinach and cucumber seed in containers and put them in the greenhouse. I haven't a clue as to how to proceed. We're all just looking at the greenhouse going...um. I did buy some herb seeds.

Here's my level of gardening skill. I planted grass seed, forgot about it and it actually grew...some. I planted wildflower seeds two months ago and only got a few shoots coming up. I bought marigolds and they're having a hard time with me. They have many buds but they're not opening.

[bmc65]

Here's my gardening skills. I recently bought a bonsai. I tried to stay on track with watering and misting it properly. It is now dead.

[highlander]

Some people just seem to have a talent with plants.
I would have killed a bonsai too, bmc. I had a cactus once (ok, a bunch of times) and I always kill them no matter how hard I try to take care of them. I love them and name them all Pepe. Maybe they don't like to be called Pepe.

[Islander]

Highlander, I'd love to coach you but I have neither the time nor the typing fingers. Here;s what tadoo: beg, borrow or steal an Eliot Coleman book. He has one called something like Year-Round Gardening... you can take it a step at a time, but I have a friend who bought a high tunnel and will be growing organic greens all winter.

[highlander]

Highlander, I'd love to coach you but I have neither the time nor the typing fingers. Here;s what tadoo: beg, borrow or steal an Eliot Coleman book. He has one called something like Year-Round Gardening... you can take it a step at a time, but I have a friend who bought a high tunnel and will be growing organic greens all winter.
Thank you Islander. His book has been on my Amazon book list for a while. I shall try to put it on my next order and go one step at a time. Organic greens all winter sounds excellent.

[bmc65]

highlander, I do have an aloe vera that has been with me since 1988. It has held up well, even when I forget to water it for, who knows how long. I named it gumbie, because when it was a tiny baby plant it would always bend to reach for the sun whenever I turned the pot in my window sill. Gumbie is now a monster grown halfway out of it's now giant pot. He's not brimming with health at the moment, but he's not nearly close to throwing in the towel either. I have three other success stories. A cactus also grown out of it's pot, almost as old as gumbie. It has lived with the pot lying sideways for years and refuses to die. (Seriously these are my kind of plants.) I have a viney type thing that I don't think is supposed to be viney, but I don't pinch it back and I haven't changed the pot. I'm a bit hesitant about disturbing the magic... Finally I have a new tiny gumbie like succulent that does the bendy thing, so cute. I almost want to name it gumbie too, but the name is taken and this plant looks a bit girly. Thanks to these hardy abuse loving plants I somehow thought I'd be successful with a bonsai. Oops. ...I still don't have the heart remove it, but am working up to taking it to a garden for mulching. I don't seem to do well with basil either.

[Islander]

Basil never does well indoors. Really wants hot sun, outside...not your fault!

[bmc65]

Thanks Islander. I have no outside for plants.

[Katee]

Basil is never going to get hot sun where i live. It does okay indoors in a window for a little while.

I do best with the non-food things. I've ivy growing in my bathroom that is just lovely - i'm going to need to transplant it soon. I usually am okay with Rosemary. My aloe vera plant is fine. I've heard that mint is hard to kill, but i have managed. Our tomato plants produce a few tomatoes, but not much of a crop. I'm trying yet again with stevia - i've lost count of how many of those i've killed. I heard that you can make a stevia thingy (oh, extract) with vodka just like you would with almond or vanilla and i want to try that.

Zucchini is suppose to grow well, too, but the plant i had bit the dust. I think if we were in a hotter climate with better soil i might be a better gardener, but i have my doubts.

My mother has about 10 acres in Tennessee, her part of my grandparent's farm. I suppose that i could request that as my inheritance, but i don't really want to live there.

[Aaltrude]

I have a basil plant growing indoors at the moment during our winter. It is sitting in a north (towards the sun) facing window and so far has been coping. It will be interesting to see how it survives the rest of the winter.

[highlander]

We had an aloe plant for a really long time. My husband took care of it. One day it seemed to give up the ghost. I think it got too cold in that little rental...or something. I need to buy another one because they're really great to have around.

[Samurai]

Oh, man! What in the helicopter will I do? I have to have Captain Crunch, and Coke!


And you think I am kidding....

[highlander]

Oh, man! What in the helicopter will I do? I have to have Captain Crunch, and Coke!


And you think I am kidding....
Well you could get Cokes from Mexico. They're taste better anyway. One of my cousins lives in Texas and she'll cross the border once in a while and load up on Cokes.

[Samurai]

Well you could get Cokes from Mexico. They're taste better anyway. One of my cousins lives in Texas and she'll cross the border once in a while and load up on Cokes.
No need! Mexican Cokes are sold everywhere here. Sugar cane Dr.Pepper in glass is widely available here too, since this is the birthplace of DP.

[highlander]

Dr. Pepper with peanuts = a guilty pleasure of mine.