There’s been a great deal of focus on issues surrounding agriculture in the mainstream media lately. The recent UN Food Summit in Rome discussing rising food costs and hunger, the US Farm Bill and the WTO, and the debate on biofuels to name a few. Without question all are critical issues.
But while the politicians jostle for media headlines, farmers across the American Midwest are battling basic issues with Mother Nature. Rains have saturated the region damaging or delaying the planting of corn and soybeans. A Reuters article on June 6 quoted a Chicago Board of Trade trader saying “It’s weather, weather, weather” and “It’s getting serious now for both corn and beans, and for some wheat, too” as the commodity prices rose in anticipation of tighter supplies. Comparisons are being made to 1993 when the Mississippi River flooded and farmers and crops struggled.
There’s been plenty of video footage on television of tornado damage. But what we haven’t seen is adequate coverage of the struggle farmers are having with their fields - lost seed and crop plantings, fertilizer applications, and the cost of lost time and fuel in a farmer's ongoing effort to feed the world. This is something we have to consider and be prepared for as more acres have gone underwater in recent days.
There’s no question there’s been a boom in agriculture in recent years, but higher prices don’t mean as much without a crop to sell. Supply and demand ultimately determines the market, and producers still have to deal with surprises from Mother Nature.
Too bad Biotech hasn't found a reliable way to genetically engineer the weather! I did see a write-up about genetically engineering humans to withstand drought and perhaps we could find a gene to produce our own food, or maybe we could photosynthesize and get our energy straight from the sun. But that would be a one time deal for agrobiz. I suppose we could be charged monthly--every month of our lives or have the engineering terminated!
I truly believe these recent weather issues are a prime example of the reason GM crops are not the answer. The problem is knowing which crop to plant when. While I feel for the farmers and all of us who likewise suffer, I do resent that fact that farmers have made a deal with biotech and replaced our natural food with GM one without ever asking us what we thought about that. And the farmers do not appear to be any better off for this decision. The same problems exist, now you rely on biotech for the next fix to the last problem. And then the next fix for the problem the fix caused. And nothing can fix the weather.
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