Seek sustainability (click here)
The farming communities of the USA will understand this. The New York Times article today hasn't 'got the culture' right. The Neocons are trying to promote poverty among American farmers in exchange for off shore drilling profiteers.
I'll explain.
The reason corn is a focus for ethanol and biofuels is because that is what American farmers have traditionally grown. Feed corn. That is what makes them profits in the USA. If in Brazil they would learn that corn is not necessarily 'the cash crop' of choice.
In Brazil it is sugar cane that is the cash crop of choice for 'fueling' the motoring habits there. (click here)
This is a study from Penn State. It compares the 'conditions' that best grow Prairie Grass, see Table l. (click here). Prairie Grass grows under very dry conditions in Pennsylvania. Prairie Grass will grow in very dry conditions any place actually. If there is flooding and knowing the root systems of 'grasses' tend to 'hold the soil' it is difficult to state that Prairie Grass as a 'cash crop' would ever be a bad investment for the American farmer, especially since their feed corn crops are doing so poorly.
In regard to 'SPECIES' of grasses, there is a difference between Prairie Grass and Switchgrass. Not the same thing. Prairie Grass is far heartier under Climate Change circumstances and that brings me to my next point.
The 'Traditional Crops' of the American farmer won't be profitable to them anymore. With Climate Change evident everywhere the American Farmer HAS TO seek different crops to plant and harvest.
In regard to the 'Carbon Credit Market' for farmlands. It will become worthless if there is no crops growing there. So, basically, if the American farmer is to survive then they need to 'get their priorities straight.'
What are those priorities? Simple. Survive and make money.
The commodities markets will respond to the changing face of crop production in the USA. In other words if American farmers believe the ONLY crop they can grow to 'break into' big money for Biofuels is corn they will seek to provide that no matter how bad it might fail. But, if farmers begin to plant 'alternate' corps such as Prairie Grass, the commodity markets will follow that trend and pay as much if not more for those crops as they did for corn.
To allow American farmers to fail and remain on a 'welfare system' of cheap loans and debt ridden land is immoral. It is corrupt government and certainly is a government without insight. Compassionless is the word. Americans want their farmers to do well. We would love for Family Farms to return in greater numbers to our national landscape actually.
Farmers need to be brave and bold in 'taking' what is rightfully theirs to have. Climate Change will rob them of their land and future. They have to react to Climate Change with aggressive measures that will INCREASE the amount of CHLOROPHYLL on every acre while providing them with crops that will return much needed income to rid themselves of debt.
Crops like Prairie Grass are not necessarily JUST used for biofuels. Long before cattle populated any 'feed lots' there were huge herds of Buffalo that roamed the plains and ate exactly that. Prairie Grass. There is nothing to say the 'feed lots' of the USA have to feed corn either. There is every indication that 'succulent' corn won't be vaible crops in the USA. If feedlot cattle HAVE to have corn then it might need to be imported. But. From where?
When George Walker Bush stated in 2003, "...there is no such thing as Global Warming..." he and his administration condemned the American farmer to loss their lands. That is an interesting throught when considering those lands could be purchased by the very same folks that didn't protect the American farmer from failure due to Climate Change.
Allowing American farmers to fail in the face of Climate Change while promoting the use of off shore oil is to say that they aren't worthy of the dignity alternative crops can provide for them. A nation 'strapped' for a reasonable way out of an energy crisis due to their dependance on fossil fuels is a grateful nation when it is accompanied by heroes that continue to 'feed them' as well.
The price of food is going up. The USA has had a 'cheap food' policy for a long time. The USA and it's 'give away' economy has to realize new realities. Those realities might even lead to a far, far healthier nation as well.
I know the American farmer is capable of making 'wise' choices and being dedicated to their purpose as well. I wish them the best of luck and hope they are 'tough as nails' when deciding on a new President that will give them the opportunity they need.
They don't need to sacrifice, they need to grow crops that we all need for energy as well as a food supply. Adverse outcomes will continue to mount if a 'dust bowl' is allowed to develop. There needs to be aggressive changes and now !
Corn plants in Blairstown, Iowa, were pounded by hail recently and perpetual rains for weeks. (click here)
Energy Balance / Life Cycle Inventory for Ethanol, Biodiesel and Petroleum Fuels (click here)
..."Corn ethanol is energy efficient, as indicated by an energy ratio of 1.34; that is, for every Btu dedicated to producing ethanol, there is a 34-percent energy gain." A similar study done in 1995 indicated only a 1.24 energy ratio. The increase is accounted for by an increase in corn yields and greater efficiencies in the ethanol production process. As a result, energy efficiency in the production of ethanol is increasing....
Mixed Prairie Grasses like the original settlers of the West found as 'sod.'
...it's not monoculture crops like corn, soybeans or even switchgrass, but rather the "sea of grass" that fell to the plow in the 19th century that harbors a bright hope for the 21st. Mixtures of native perennial grasses and other flowering plants require little energy or fertilizer to turn into fuel, yield up to 238 percent more usable energy per acre than any single species and can even lower atmospheric carbon dioxide by storing it in their roots or in soil....
...In their previous study, Tilman and his colleagues calculated the energy outputs of ethanol and soy biodiesel and compared those numbers to the inputs of energy-mostly from fossil fuels-necessary to produce them. An input of 100 units of energy will yield 125 units from ethanol and 193 from biodiesel. In the new paper, Tilman, Hill and Lehman calculated that mixed prairie grasses, if converted to synthetic fuels by the right means, would yield 809 units....
