http://www.grist.org/comments/food/2008/06/13/ SNIP
As corn and soy fields drown in rainwater, the food crisis deepens
Here in the United States, we grow 44 percent of the world's corn crop, and 38 percent of its soy. For the great bulk of that massive harvest, we rely on a single region: the Midwestern farm belt. And over the past couple of weeks, torrential rains have hammered that area, at a particularly sensitive time for its grand swath of corn and soybean plants.
An unusually wet spring had already pushed farmers to plant their crops late and forced them to keep some land fallow. With the recent deluge, a bad situation has turned worse. The rains have not only damaged crops, they've also washed away untold tons of fertilizer, which leach into groundwater and eventually flow through the Mississippi clear down to the Gulf of Mexico. There, the fertilizer won't feed crops; instead, in a double blow to food production, it will nourish a vast algae bloom blotting out sea life that would otherwise have contributed to a once-bountiful fishery.
As a result of this soggy situation, corn yields will plummet, the USDA reports [PDF]. And that's bad news for the billions of people who rely on the global food system for sustenance.
Back in February, a fertilizer executive was already waxing darkly about trends in food production: "If you had any major upset where you didn't have a crop in a major growing agricultural region this year, I believe you'd see famine," William Doyle, CEO of Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan, told Bloomberg News.
Our Ruined Harvest
by freydi 2 Replies latest social current
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freydi
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shamus100
Wow! You know there's a food shortage when someone from Saskatchewan makes the news. Even if it is Potash Corp.
Now they're talking about oil prices about $120 a barrel, and food prices to go way up.
I guess we just have to see. Another factor is the hurricane season - if it disrupts fuel production.
Everything is relative - we just have to wait and see, I guess.
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Hortensia
and don't forget the world-wide rice shortage. Our local grocery stores ration how much rice you can buy per day.