Let's pay farmers NOT to grow stuff

[Hawkmoon]

Hmmm ...

Maybe that's not such a great idea: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/biden-says-expect-real-food-175308088.html

[Nick1911]

Well, there are certainly some arguments for paying farmers not to grow stuff, or more typically using economic levers like subsides and taxation rules to control and stabilize prices and production.  Historically, I think it's hard to argue that the US governments agricultural regulations have been the cause of food insecurity.  It really isn't now either - a conflict in a major grain producing region combined with currency hijinks is leading to higher prices, not the USDA regs.

What programs are you arguing killing off?  CRP?

[Jim147]

I keep hearing about this stuff on the news but never see it around here. Miles and miles of year-round framing.

[Ben]

I think two big inputs regarding domestic farming this year will be fuel and fertilizer. Both have about doubled compared to last year, and fertilizer is getting hard to come by.

[French G.]

Obviously the year to grow as much corn as possible to turn into ethanol. Also a good time to send all the cow fart hysterics to whatever places start starving this fall and see if they can help.

[charby]

Also predicted to have year three of a drought in the corn/soy growing areas. There isn't much moisture left in the topsoil.

You're not going to eat dent field corn, that goes to animal feed, industry and ethanol. Soy needs to be processed into human food, but much of what is grown is for oil and animal feed.

Pork and Poultry, production and pack, is pretty much controlled by 4 companies. 2 are foreign owned, China and Brazil.

Beef is headed the same way, there is a silent war between the big packers and the independent cattle producers.

[Brad Johnson]

I think two big inputs regarding domestic farming this year will be fuel and fertilizer. Both have about doubled compared to last year, and fertilizer is getting hard to come by.

Fuel doubled. Fertilizer tripled. Talking to Dad over the weekend and the stuff they use for weed control has gone from $12 a gallon to $43.

Brad

[charby]

Fuel doubled. Fertilizer tripled. Talking to Dad over the weekend and the stuff they use for weed control has gone from $12 a gallon to $43.

Brad

Fertilizer is going to hit next year, because most farmers bought/ordered this year's fertilzer last summer before the price spike. Sucks if you picked up more land or need to switch row crops from what was originally planned. Fuel tends to be that way in farming also, you order it a year in advance.

[RoadKingLarry]

Fuel doubled. Fertilizer tripled. Talking to Dad over the weekend and the stuff they use for weed control has gone from $12 a gallon to $43.

Brad

I bought my "every other year" jug of off brand 41% glyphosate concentrate this spring, $119.95 for the 2.5 gallon jug. Last time I bought one (2020) the price was $41.95.

[Ben]

I bought my "every other year" jug of off brand 41% glyphosate concentrate this spring, $119.95 for the 2.5 gallon jug. Last time I bought one (2020) the price was $41.95.

I've spent around $600 already this year on herbicides. I just now got back to the house from spraying Canadian thistle that started popping up. I messed up and didn't grab extra fertilizer last year. I've got enough to do the 8ac field that really needs it, and the rest are gonna have to run on cow *expletive deleted*it. 

My neighbor, who has a big dairy down the road only used manure on the 80 acres of alfalfa he farms next door to me instead of buying chemical fertilizer this year. Good for him, but it was kinda smelly around the house for a few weeks there. 

[MillCreek]

And now the farmers have to worry about sludge:

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/mar/22/i-dont-know-how-well-survive-the-farmers-facing-ruin-in-americas-forever-chemicals-crisis

[charby]

I absolutely hate walking soybean or cornfields that are heavily hog manured for nitrogen. It doesn't smell, but it slimy with the slightest amount of moisture.

[charby]

NPR just had a story about encouraging more farmers to plant wheat to offset Ukraine. At least they mentioned that it really hard to switch to a different commodity in an established commodity system.

[Ben]

NPR just had a story about encouraging more farmers to plant wheat to offset Ukraine. At least they mentioned that it really hard to switch to a different commodity in an established commodity system.

Interesting. From what I've been seeing from the NPR types, and even the FSA monthly newsletters, is a big push for changing land to "no-till" for the environment and whatnot, and kind of a turnaround from the previous "cattle are evil fart heads" push. I'm no-till, as are most of the grazing lands around here. No-till and intensive grazing management is something I've been able to get behind, even with the "enviro" roots to it. Mostly because it lets me be lazier. 

So NPR et al talking about doing more rotational farming with the increased carbon load is interesting. Sort of like how they are kinda turning into warmongers lately.

[charby]

Interesting. From what I've been seeing from the NPR types, and even the FSA monthly newsletters, is a big push for changing land to "no-till" for the environment and whatnot, and kind of a turnaround from the previous "cattle are evil fart heads" push. I'm no-till, as are most of the grazing lands around here. No-till and intensive grazing management is something I've been able to get behind, even with the "enviro" roots to it. Mostly because it lets me be lazier. 

So NPR et al talking about doing more rotational farming with the increased carbon load is interesting. Sort of like how they are kinda turning into warmongers lately.

Actually no till and reduced tillage is pretty common here in Iowa with farmers who rotate between corn and soy. This varies due to soil types. We do have a lot of corn on corn growers also because the soil isn't that productive (too heavy) for soybeans and corn on corn requires deep fall tillage and a lot of nitrogen fertilizer to get a profitable harvest.

There is also starting to have a small farmer driven initiative to have on farm sales of meat and other agricultural products (not just eggs vegetables). I saw a sign out at a small organic farmer I know the other day with pork, chicken and lamb meat for sale.

I'm starting to see some of the small town lockers even stepping up with their license and offering retail meat from their own kill, even interstate sales. The one (owned by Boer expats) I love to go to for my bacon and brats just bought another building to turn their offal into fresh pet food.

[Jim147]

My wife's work friend we have been buying beef from is expanding this year.

The winter wheat is looking pretty good around here but not sure how you plant more at this time of year. 

[MechAg94]

My Dad finally decided to butcher a cow instead of selling it.  The local butcher is backed up.  It has been a month or more and I am not sure if he has been able to drop it off yet. 

[Jim147]

My Dad finally decided to butcher a cow instead of selling it.  The local butcher is backed up.  It has been a month or more and I am not sure if he has been able to drop it off yet. 

Its a lot of work but three people with a front end loader can do it in a day at home. That was a long drunk evening but we sure ate good cutting it off and tossing on a grate on the woodstove.

[charby]

My wife's work friend we have been buying beef from is expanding this year.

The winter wheat is looking pretty good around here but not sure how you plant more at this time of year.

There is spring planted wheat too.

[Jim147]

It won't dry out enough around here for months to plant anything.

[Pb]

Get rid of our ethanol mandates and subsidies.

[kgbsquirrel]

Get rid of our ethanol mandates and subsidies.

Yes.  Ethanol is a net energy consumer (you get less energy out than you put in to make it in the first place), and it has a far lower energy content than gasoline. 

What makes sense:
Nuclear
Hydro
More drilling
Solar thermal (mirrors pointed at a boiler, not photovoltaic)

And if you need to make an petroleum fuel substitute, Fischer-Tropsch fuel synthesis.  You put in CO2, H2O and electricity, and you get out actual hydrocarbons of your choice.  Real gasoline or diesel can be made with the same energy content as petroleum distillates (ethanol and biodiesel have lower energy contents, so worse mileage, etc.)

[WLJ]

Yes.  Ethanol is a net energy consumer (you get less energy out than you put in to make it in the first place), and it has a far lower energy content than gasoline. 

And you can bet any politician who proposes getting rid ethanol mandates and subsidies will get savaged by the Enviros and MSM for wanting to destroy farmers and the planet. Feelz trump facts nowadays.

[HankB]

Get rid of our ethanol mandates and subsidies.

Amen to that. Diluting gasoline with 10% ethanol is supposed to only produce a 3% fuel economy penalty, but when they mandated ethanol dilution up in the Twin Cities area in Minnesota several decades ago, my colleagues and I all saw fuel economy penalties 2-4 times that. (Got similar results here in TX as well.)

Why ethanol? Well, one of the local news organizations back in Minnesota noticed a VERY strong correlation between state legislators who voted for an ethanol dilution mandate and those who received campaign contributions from ADM - Archer-Daniels-Midland - a major producer of fuel grade ethanol.

Duh. 

[WLJ]

Amen to that. Diluting gasoline with 10% ethanol is supposed to only produce a 3% fuel economy penalty, but when they mandated ethanol dilution up in the Twin Cities area in Minnesota several decades ago, my colleagues and I all saw fuel economy penalties 2-4 times that. (Got similar results here in TX as well.)

Why ethanol? Well, one of the local news organizations back in Minnesota noticed a VERY strong correlation between state legislators who voted for an ethanol dilution mandate and those who received campaign contributions from ADM - Archer-Daniels-Midland - a major producer of fuel grade ethanol.

Duh. 

This is my shocked face