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JDPriestly

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28. My grandfather lived and tried to farm through the dustbowl in the 1930s in

Tue Jul 24, 2012, 02:30 PM

Jul 2012

Oklahoma. He left and went back to Iowa. When I was a child, he took me past his fields and explained about conservation and rotating crops. After WWII, I believe the government paid farmers to rotate their crops --clover, alfalfa, whatever to nourish the earth after a certain number of years of corn or other cash crops. Soybeans are a legume and also good for the soil. But you can't farm without water. Unless you want to farm cactus.

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Corn Belt crop conditions decline along with topsoil moisture [View all] OmahaBlueDog Jul 2012 OP

" A word to the wise is sufficient" - Sister Rose Thorn Berlum Jul 2012 #1

I saw some of that last week in South Dakota OmahaBlueDog Jul 2012 #3

Kicked and recommended. Uncle Joe Jul 2012 #2

NO MORE ETHANOL!!! kooljerk666 Jul 2012 #4

..in a related article OmahaBlueDog Jul 2012 #6

I'm not sure how the ethanol situation will play out... caraher Jul 2012 #10

Add this to the equation OmahaBlueDog Jul 2012 #12

Good point caraher Jul 2012 #15

Imagine if we'd put that money towards drought prevention 4th law of robotics Jul 2012 #33

Well the big ag. corps. better absorb some of this loss instead of just passing thru to consumers. xtraxritical Jul 2012 #5

..in another related article OmahaBlueDog Jul 2012 #9

An inconvenient truth... harun Jul 2012 #7

There's a poster in GD whose saying any farmer with bad yields is just a shitty farmer riderinthestorm Jul 2012 #8

If you have irrigation water, you may be able to save part of your crop OmahaBlueDog Jul 2012 #11

That's true but some crops like corn and tomatoes actually stop producing with high heat riderinthestorm Jul 2012 #25

There are WhackJobs everywhere who listen to Rush & Fox and repeat their Republican-corporate lies Berlum Jul 2012 #13

I'll bet chervilant Jul 2012 #20

I've been told that once soil gets too dry it actually repels moisture AngryAmish Jul 2012 #14

Oh yeah, I've seen that on the farm NickB79 Jul 2012 #19

Without crop rotation things go down hill PDQ in dry times. Historic NY Jul 2012 #16

Ding Ding Ding! Crop rotations are now routinely skipped NickB79 Jul 2012 #23

My grandfather lived and tried to farm through the dustbowl in the 1930s in JDPriestly Jul 2012 #28

Crop rotation makes it rain? JoeyT Jul 2012 #32

Crop rotation does little in the face of drought 4th law of robotics Jul 2012 #34

crop rotation tru Jul 2012 #43

HFCS -- hopefully will become too expensive to lace the food supply with....nt Evasporque Jul 2012 #17

I was wondering about that as well. xxqqqzme Jul 2012 #22

No comments about famine? chervilant Jul 2012 #18

First we'll see famines in other countries NickB79 Jul 2012 #21

The ignoring has already begun: chervilant Jul 2012 #24

We're a long ways from famine 4th law of robotics Jul 2012 #35

We as in the US are still a ways from famine. Other countries aren't doing so hot NickB79 Jul 2012 #44

Oh yeah, others may starve 4th law of robotics Jul 2012 #45

Back in April I said people had two summers left to learn how to garden GliderGuider Jul 2012 #39

Indeed, chervilant Jul 2012 #40

Just what we need, another Dust Bowl malthaussen Jul 2012 #26

Unless we get rain with lower temperatures in Illinois very soon, the remaining corn fields are AnotherMcIntosh Jul 2012 #27

Weather forecast for Des Moines -- thunderstorms likely Wed. night JDPriestly Jul 2012 #29

Monoculture corn/soy/grain farming was depleting topsoil in the first place... drokhole Jul 2012 #30

Unfortunately, the forage crops and pastures are also being hit. amandabeech Jul 2012 #36

k&r Liberal_in_LA Jul 2012 #31

Omaha got its first rain since 6/23 last night OmahaBlueDog Jul 2012 #46

Just checked the USAgDep data. amandabeech Jul 2012 #37

We've made a big mistake by turning vast areas into single crop megafarms Marrah_G Jul 2012 #38

A look at the areas of the world in drought right now GliderGuider Jul 2012 #41

not to worry - our government is working hard on the problem of climate change. tru Jul 2012 #42