Advances in high-yield agriculture over the latter part of the 20th century have prevented massive amounts of greenhouse gases from entering the atmosphere - the equivalent of 590 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide - according to a new study led by two Stanford Earth scientists.
Archive for the ‘Press Clips’ Category
03/07/09 The Economist: “Twinkle, twinkle, little laser”
Precision agriculture: Using lasers to determine the level of moisture in a field could help farmers decide when to irrigate—and when not to.
How much, and how often, should farmers water their crops? The invention of the automatic sprinkler gave farmers the power to act upon the answers to those questions. It did not, though, provide the answers themselves. Most farmers still make the call based on instinct, or err on the side of caution and switch the sprinklers on at fixed intervals.
Unfortunately, both these approaches risk wasting water, and in many parts of the world it is a scarce resource.
03/06/09 Ethanol Producer Magazine: “Corn Farmers Coalition to educate policy makers”
In partnership with the National Corn Growers Association, corn farmers from 10 states recently formed the Corn Farmers Coalition with the goal of educating policymakers in Washington, D.C. On March 2 the coalition launched its Web site, www.CornFarmersCoalition.org. In addition to a wealth of factual information, the Web site also showcases the stories of real family farmers.
03/04/09 Los Angeles Times: “A food fight over prices; Grocers, manufacturers clash as wholesale costs move upward despite cheaper raw materials”
There’s a tug of war under way over food prices between supermarkets and food manufacturers such as Nestle, Unilever and Kellogg.
The nation’s big grocery chains contend food manufacturers have raised prices too fast and too far, considering large drops in prices for fuel, corn, wheat and other commodities in recent months.
03/02/09 Brownfield: “Corn Farmers Coalition has message for DC decision makers”
There’s a message heading to Washington policy and decision makers starting today and it’s coming from a new group – the Corn Farmers Coalition. Illinois Corn Marketing Board’s communications director Mark Lambert tells Brownfield that NCGA has teamed up with 10 state corn grower groups for this mission – to “purely educate.” Lambert says, “We’re trying to package it nicely, tie a ribbon around it and lay it in the laps of people who drive decision making in DC – not only congressmen, but, think-tanks, the environmental groups. You know we’re gonna be in a heavy regulatory environment for the next few years based on what we’re seeing and so there couldn’t be a better time for this.”
02/25/09 National Corn Growers Association: “New Study Demonstrates Sustainability of Corn Ethanol”
A new study that assesses land use changes and related greenhouse gas (GHG) emission impacts due to expansion of ethanol production in the United States provides further demonstration of the long-term sustainability of corn-based ethanol, the National Corn Growers Association said.
02/23/09 Ag Web: “Mobile Wind Machine Being Used to Improve Corn Standability”
There’s a cold wind blowing through Iowa, but last week it was even more pronounced at the Pioneer Hi-Bred Campus in Johnston, Iowa. There, a 20-ton, space-age looking machine nicknamed Boreas-a name inspired by the Greek god of the cold north wind-was literally blowing journalists away.
Pioneer, a DuPont Company, unveiled mobile wind machines, at a press conference, as the latest innovation to increase agricultural productivity. The machines, capable of producing turbulent winds exceeding 100 mph will be used to test the ability of experimental corn hybrids to withstand violent wind storms that cause standability issues and subsequent yield loss. The company is also researching the reasons behind brittle snap-breakage of corn stalks by violent winds, usually during periods of fast growth.
02/13/09 The News Journal: “UD joins DuPont in commercial corn deal”
The University of Delaware and DuPont Co. have signed a commercial deal for a disease-resistant corn jointly developed by the two institutions.
DuPont’s Pioneer Hi-Bred seed business is now marketing the hybrid corn, which has a gene that helps it resist a disease called anthracnose stalk rot. The disease, which reduces crop yields by rotting the stalks of corn plants, is blamed for an estimated $1 billion in annual losses in North America.
02/02/09 Fort Dodge Messenger: “Editorial: Corn Fuels Iowa’s Economy”
Corn production has been a key factor in the Iowa economy for more than 150 years.
The state’s 21st century economy is characterized by increasing diversity. Agriculture isn’t as dominant as once was the case. Even so, there can be little doubt that corn remains of critical importance. The renewable fuels boom currently sweeping the Hawkeye State has increased demand for corn as a critical ingredient in manufacturing ethanol.
Corn production nationally broke records in 2007. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, American farmers produced 13.1 billion bushels of corn that year, breaking the previous record of 11.8 billion set in 2004. Production in 2008 was a bit less than in 2007- 12.1 million bushels, according a USDA estimate. Even so, the 2008 figure will go into the record books as the second-highest year for total corn production.
Iowa continues to top the nation in corn production even though flooding and other weather-related difficulties made 2008 a challenging year for farmers. Iowa’s corn yield for 2008 was impressive at just short of 2.2 billion bushels. That made the 2008 Iowa corn crop the fourth-largest in history.
02/02/09 York News-Times: “Seed companies look to increase corn yields”
Cellulosic ethanol might be on the long-term horizon, but corn will continue to take center stage as the U.S. tries to satisfy a more immediate mandate calling for 11.1 billion gallons of renewable fuel to be blended into gasoline this year.
And as that goal jumps to 36 billion gallons by 2022, farmers who grow corn for ethanol will be looking to seed companies for help.
Pioneer Hi-Bred, a DuPont Co. subsidiary, is looking to increase the yields of its corn hybrids and soybean varieties by 40 percent within 10 years. And St. Louis-based Monsanto Co., the world’s largest seed company, has pledged to double yields from its crops by 2030.