On the Farm, Algae May Be the New Corn
28th July 2015
Apart from human uses, corn makes up the majority of feed for livestock. At one point, over 95% of the feed grains grown in the United States were based on corn. It’s no surprise then that in 2015 alone, some 89.2 million acres will be grown in the United States. This represents around 40% of all the corn grown worldwide.
But corn has seen a decline due to a number of factors. Crops have been hard hit by climate change. Higher temperatures have led to decreased yields and less overall abundance. As a result, the value of corn has dropped since 2012. This has put additional pressure on farmers, suggesting they may have to forego corn and look to other crops to maintain viability. This could harm corn stocks and hinder food security.
There may be an answer to the corn dilemma, but to find it, one has to look not in the prairies but the sea. Within the salty brine are algae. These microorganisms, once believed to be primordial plant species, are nutrient-making machines. They are known to produce high levels of antioxidants and also a variety of essential fatty acids. Some companies have even seen their algal-derived products make it to market.
Hmm. Kelp-fed beef just doesn’t have the same ring, somehow.
July 28th, 2015 at 14:41
Yeah… climate change. And a decreased supply has lead to lower prices. Classic economic curve that one. As for scare tactics on “food security”… anyone want to ponder a wag at the production of US corn converted to ethanol to secure US energy independence in a pre-horizontal directional drilling hydraulic fracturing economy? One quickly sourced estimate is 40% of the US harvest goes to ethanol production.
At least there is ample manure to go around.
July 28th, 2015 at 14:44
But I do enjoy the slime balls now fancying the pond scum. Justice prevails.
July 29th, 2015 at 17:46
Record harvest, with resulting low prices.
http://www.indexmundi.com/agriculture/?country=us&commodity=corn&graph=production