▲ 46 ▼ Iowa [OC] (lemmy.dbzer0.com) submitted 2 days ago by Throbbing_banjo@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/pics@lemmy.world 8 comments fedilink hide all child comments
[–] Throbbing_banjo@lemmy.dbzer0.com [S] 2 points 2 days ago* (1 child) This is intentional, who needs buffer strips or trees when can you can grow two more rows of that sweet, sweet bastardgrass. permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 2 child comments replies: [–] The_v@lemmy.world 1 point 1 day ago What's even better is that 45% of the production is for ethanol. Almost all of this is used for blending with gasoline in vehicles. A massive transition toward electric vehicles and public transit would eliminate the need for this. So 45% of the land used for corn production is not needed. Irrigating corn improves its yield by up to 70% in many regions of the corn belt. Investment into irrigations systems could decrease the land area needed for raising corn by another 50-60%. Bottom line: We really don't need to farm 60 million or so acres in corn we currently do in the U.S out of the 80-90 million averages. permalink fedilink source parent
[–] The_v@lemmy.world 1 point 1 day ago What's even better is that 45% of the production is for ethanol. Almost all of this is used for blending with gasoline in vehicles. A massive transition toward electric vehicles and public transit would eliminate the need for this. So 45% of the land used for corn production is not needed. Irrigating corn improves its yield by up to 70% in many regions of the corn belt. Investment into irrigations systems could decrease the land area needed for raising corn by another 50-60%. Bottom line: We really don't need to farm 60 million or so acres in corn we currently do in the U.S out of the 80-90 million averages. permalink fedilink source parent
