Corn crops are predicted to reach record highs this year leading to lower prices as supply rises above demand. The record 16.7 billion bushel production estimate would be a blow to farmers who face a cost of up to $4.75 a bushel to grow the crop. While elevator prices now range near $3.38, some analysts fear that the actual price per bushel could be in the $2.80 to $2.90 area. A solution to the abundant crop might rest in E15, a petroleum blend of 15% ethanol and 85% gasoline. This mixture is approved for most vehicles 2001 and newer. The fuel is generally cheaper to produce than regular gasoline, burns cleaner reducing emissions, and can lessen dependence on foreign oil. On the negative side, fuel economy might be slightly lower while summer use could lead to a few fog issues. Members of the National Corn Growers Association are pushing the current administration to complete legislation that allows for year-round permanent sales of E15 nationwide. Passing the law would add nearly two billion bushels of corn to the production of fuel annually. Next week, farmers will focus on the Pro Farmers Midwest Crop Tour assessments.
Fires and Floods: Real Life Disaster Movies
Fire dashboards list Australia, Angola, Russia, China and Brazil as the five top world locations for forest fires. Canadian wildfires continue to send smoke across the U.S. Boreal regions, characterized by cold climates and coniferous forests, are particularly affected having lost over 160,000 hectares of trees per year over the last 24 years. Climate change has produced extreme heat waves, five times more likely than 150 years ago. Heat dries out the landscape increasing fire risk. Fires release more carbon from trees and underground, further increasing climate change.This “fire-climate feedback loop” is a key factor in 2024’s 13.5 million hectares of burned areas, roughly the size of Greece. Meanwhile, U.S. floods have inundated parts of Georgia and Tennessee with sections of Chattanooga seeing 6+ inches of rain this week. In Alaska, the Mendenhall Glaciers have produced record flooding that is just now beginning to subside.
Ag Secretary Rollins Puts Screws to the Flies
The New World Screwworm,a devastating pest, bores into the skin of living animals. The burrowing fly larvae cause serious and often deadly harm to livestock, wildlife, pets, sometimes birds, and rarely humans. While no cases currently involve U.S. animals or humans, the nearest case is 370 miles south of the border in Mexico. Because cases have moved northward, the U.S.border was closed to Mexican cattle, bison, and horses in May and again in July. To prevent the spread to the north, the U.S. has instituted Sterile Insect Technique (SIT), releasing sterile male flies to mate with female flies and reduce the Mexican screwworm population.
This same technique eradicated the screwworm issue from the U.S. in 1966. On Friday in Texas, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced her plan to increase the development of male flies to enhance the elimination of screwworms.