Biodiversity in the maize and soybean desert

TPP has long joked about living in the maize and soybean desert of the upper midwest. Sadly this does a grave injustice to deserts because even the harshest desert has more biodiversity than our agricultural fields. 200 years ago this was tall grass prairie which has a surprising and substantial biodiversity and this same grassland community built some of the richest soil in the world. Here in Lincolnland the tall grass prairie is all but gone, less than 1% remains, and it was largely displaced by maize, and later soybeans. In a photoessay of the world's biodiversity, David Liittschwager would document all the biodiversity in a one-cubic foot volume found in a day. In a Costa Rican rain forest, 150 different species were found in his one-cubic-foot placed in the canopy of a strangler fig tree. And all over the world he found surprising biodiversity, and it's mostly surprising because humans pay very little attention to the little organisms. But in a maize field here in north central Lincolnland he got quite a different surprise. Sadly, he found nothing, nothing but maize. In our zeal, in our passion, in our desire for maize, our agricultural methods have come as close as possible to creating a complete monoculture. It's no wonder that more wildlife lives in our cities and towns than outside the city limits because out there it's a biological wasteland, except for crops.  This represents nature bent entirely to human will, and again because little attention is paid to this, it's been estimated based on measurements here and there, that half of this marvelous prairie soil is gone, and so is the community that made it. So how smart are humans anyways? Do you need a crystal ball to see what the future may bring?

Breaking more records than predicted

As midwestern North America continues to swelter in high temperatures and become more parched, you still haven't heard much in the news about global warming.  Now as more and more crops in this bread basket region are threatened, you have to take a long-term view if you are a responsible politician.  You must consider that rather than being a rare bad weather year, such weather could become, is becoming, much more common.  Here's a nice set of pie charts based on record high and low temperatures, and of course, if the climate is staying more-or-less steady, you basically expect to get a similar number of record highs and lows each year for a 50:50 pie chart.  Now let's look at the actual data, especially in recent years.  Hmm, are these showing the "no-climate-change" prediction?  Which years are deviating the most in terms of record highs?  So not only is it getting warmer, it's getting warmer faster! Cheerful thought, no?   Although little considered by anyone, our present day human culture has been constructed during a very equitable climatic period.  Arrogantly we think our instutions are now immune to such changes, and yet we have precious little buffer.  Who is to say another famine cannot occur?  Well, what's going to happen if 2, or 3, or 4 such years occur in a row?  Some of those fields that will produce little if any maize crop this year were planted for seed corn destined to become next year's crop.  That's just one domino.  But there are lots more.  How many years of crop failure across this region can the USA, a well-off country, sustain?  Everyone acts like next year won't be like this year?  What if it is?  What impact will greatly reduced yields have on maize and soybean related agri-businesses?   On food prices?  On farmers?  Lot's of questions and no good answers.  Time for people to start shouting at any and all politicos to take climate change seriously.  HT to Climate Central. 

Global Warming and Wine

First off, I disagree with the premise that wine is an unnecessary luxury. Wine is a basic food group 0f the civilized person and must be included in at least one meal a day.

Now in case you happen to be completely ignorant about crops and climates, wine grapes is a crop associated with Mediterranean climates, which range from cool to hot, but basically they have cool, relatively mild, wet winters and relatively hot, dry summers. Different grape varieties do better at various points along that climatic gradient. In a bit of climatic irony, the Mediterranean area does not have a monopoly on Mediterranean climates, which are also found on the west coast of North America, in California, Oregon, and to some extent in Washington, in South Africa, in Australia, and in Argentina and Chile, just look at the latitudes on a globe. So it doesn’t take rocket science to figure out where all that wine comes from.

Global warming is certainly a concern, but by affecting wine, it’s getting serious. Climatic change associated with global warming may ruin Australia’s interior wine growing regions by increasing aridity, more and greater drought. Now granted this region does not provide the most distinguished wine, and elsewhere climatic shifts may have given some of France’s wine producing regions warmer, wetter summers and a fabulous 2005 vintage, but day to day, many of us don’t drink vintage year French wines. So this is getting serious.

Yes, without a little Long Flat Red to sip as you tend the Barbie (grill, not girl), you begin to wonder if life is worth living.

But similar shifts in climate are what will not just damage, but wholesale ruin many agricultural areas. And the Land of Lincoln is not immune from this. The maize and soybean desert will become more of a desert, a drier region, one that is too dry for its two main crops. Presently the USA produces about 70% of the world’s soybeans in a narrow latitudinal band. If soybeans are raised any further south, they do not get long enough nights to trigger flowering; and if try to raise them further north, then the growing season is too short for the fruits and seeds to mature after flowering takes place in late summer (longer nights). No need to mention that soybeans are the USA’s #1 agricultural export and their value is huge. And indeed, this commodity threatened by climate change, yet the scientific dummies running things still act as if this isn’t a serious problem.

Why it’s enough to make a guy drink. Pass the Hermitage Côtes du Rhône 2005 please. No time to waste on cheap wine.