U.S. fertilizer prices hit all time highs.

[diesel_john]

Update Feb. 2008: IHMO, Nitrogen, phosphate, and potash fertilizers just got too expensive for farmers in the U.S. to buy large enough amounts of these products to sustain current yields. Look for yields to level off as seed technological advances are cancelled by less fertilizer usage. Fertility levels in the soil will decline slowly as the nutrients that are being used are not completely replaced. Eventually price rationing will drive commodity prices high enough to afford the the higher inputs costs, this process could be a rocky ride for several years with energy being the big unknown. As the third world countries raise their standard of living, we are competing for a finite number of natural resources.

[Gone4]

If there is anything I am not, it is a farmer. Besides potentially only using 2/3 of your fields at once, is there really something wrong with going the natural route and using crop rotation?

[diesel_john]

imo because of the seed technology we have now vs. the last time natural was tried on a large scale, the industry on average could probably sustain yields in the 50 % range of what they are now. Rotation is used in some form in most operations. Fallow is used where only one crop can be grown and natural emeny have made that crop uneconomical. But rotation is still used because the natural enemies can adapt to repetitious practices.

[AndrewJ]

Originally Posted by GenKreton

If there is anything I am not, it is a farmer. Besides potentially only using 2/3 of your fields at once, is there really something wrong with going the natural route and using crop rotation?

Yes, yes there is a problem with using old-school crop rotation. The problem is that modern hybrid (esp. GMO) corn varieties have extremely high yields (bushels/acre) and they suck a correspondingly huge amount of nitrogen out of the ground every time they're planted.
To replace that amount of nitrogen you'd have to plant a nitrogen-fixing crop (soybeans) in their place for several years in order to replenish the soil.

We simply cannot afford to take that much corn out of production without raising some MAJOR problems with food supplies, animal-feed supplies, ethanol supplies, etc.

Our reliance on oil for transportation fuel in this country is mirrored by our reliance on corn for food.

There's a particular carbon structure found in corn that is passed on to whatever eats that corn, and whatever eats that animal, and on and on down the food chain. That particular "corn" carbon structure stays intact. So, by examining a persons blood sample or tissue sample, one can see exactly how much of the carbon in their body came from corn. (we are what we eat)
Samples from citizens of the USA net an average of something like 98% "corn" carbon. That's a SCARY over reliance on one food crop, #2 field corn.

If all that was a bit fuzzy or confusing, go get a book called "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan, that guy explains it much better than I.

[Gone4]

I wonder what that percentage of that is to blame for the sugars derived from corn that contribute to so many health problems.

[AndrewJ]

Corn syrup, corn starch, corn meal, many common food additives. That and most all meat you are likely to eat comes from animals raised solely on corn-based feed.

[cfg83]

Originally Posted by AndrewJ

...

There's a particular carbon structure found in corn that is passed on to whatever eats that corn, and whatever eats that animal, and on and on down the food chain. That particular "corn" carbon structure stays intact. So, by examining a persons blood sample or tissue sample, one can see exactly how much of the carbon in their body came from corn. (we are what we eat)
Samples from citizens of the USA net an average of something like 98% "corn" carbon. That's a SCARY over reliance on one food crop, #2 field corn.

...

Hmmm. I did an ancestor calculation and I always thought I was up to 6% Mayan, . Now it looks like I'm surrounded by Amerimayans, :

Maize people
http://www.gmo-safety.eu/en/maize/124.docu.html

Long ago, in pre-human times, two brothers cleared a patch of virgin forest and made the first field in the wilderness, which provided the creator gods with the material from which they created mankind: maize. This is how Maya mythology explains the origin of maize and so also of mankind. Naturalists and archaeologists are, in their own way, tracing the origins of maize, which continues to pose a few riddles to this day.

CarloSW2

[metroschultz]

Originally Posted by AndrewJ

Corn syrup, corn starch, corn meal, many common food additives. That and most all meat you are likely to eat comes from animals raised solely on corn-based feed.

That explains where all My corn come from.
2 years ago I (under my Doc's advise) eliminated white food from my diet. It has some stupid name (IIRC Diabetes Diet?). I don't have Diabetes btw.
No bread, rice, potatoes, blah blah blah.
May 2006 Schultz weighs in @ 365#
May 2007 Schultz weighs in @ 280#
May 2008 ????????????????????#
I stay away from starches, etc. so I tend to eat more meat.
I know cow farts are the #1 producer of greenhouse gas. (methane)
But they eat a LOT of corn.
I think I'm weigh off topic. pun intended.

My personal favorite food is...........
(I'm already off topic)

Chili Cheese Fries.

I used to eat 'em every chance i could.
now I've only had 'em 5(five) count it yes 5 times in almost two years.
I like that I've lost weight, i hate giving up fried potatoes.
but the less i weigh the better mileage i get

Now back to your show.
S.

[diesel_john]

i go by color too, eat sweet potatoes, carrots, all kinds of beans, any color.
i know people are different, have one son that can anything but bananas, and another that can eat any thing but sweet corn, go figure.

haven't ever heard of that corn carbon carryover, i'll have to check that out.

That corn sure does convert an awful lot of that carbon dioxide to organic carbon matter. 70 Million acres last year. Maybe they can sell carbon credits to the people who need to buy things that pollute?

How much is oxygen worth a ton anyway, probably more than corn. How do people pay for the oxygen they use?

[AndrewJ]

Here's a video of a talk by Michael Pollan, "The Omnivores Next Dilemma"

He even touches on the corn subject about 1/2 way in. Good stuff.