Don't believe for a second there is even one iota of a chance that many acres of land will be taken out of production like this piece implies. What is for certain though is that farmers will be reimbursed for any land that is taken out of production. That everybody can take to the bank.
Growing industrial hemp needs to be legalized so whoever chooses to can be a farmer as well. A sea of hemp everywhere could be the future of saving the trees we have and lessening our dependence on foreign oil and to mention of course that hemp probably does quite nicely in the photosynthesis department as well.
20 million acres of cropland in Iowa and other Corn Belt states would likely be converted to forests
About 59 million acres of land nationwide would be converted to forest by 2050 because of the carbon-offset program
Iowa farmers harvested about 22.5 million acres of corn and soybeans this fall.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said such land shifts would be ”disruptive” to U.S. agriculture, but questioned the accuracy of the projections, which are based on a computer model developed at Texas A&M University.
Now you're cooking One Fly- This is a great story. Look who the naysayers are: seed companies, fuel companies, my beloved John Deere, The Farm Bureau. Hoo Ha. The computer modeling must be somewhat close or these bastards wouldn't be squeelling like shoats headed for the castration knife. Iowa has lost over 95% of its' original forestland to agriculture and the rivers and lakes have been poisoned, too. Industrial Hemp would work and replenish the land. It is a cheaper and stronger replacement for chipboard, fiberboard and other building materials. The specialty oil and fiber markets would benefit. It could actually reinvigorate rural areas with good jobs and allow families to live in affordable housing. The timber industry, big agribusiness, big pharma, etc are fighting it so this proposal must have a lot of merit.
ReplyDeleteGive me a break. All that corn and soybeans is fed to animals that should be eating grass and not grain. We get by very well here in PA with local produce, just like in the "old days".
ReplyDeleteExxon-Mobil will cry foul the loudest if industrial hemp is even considered for a moment to be legalized; they will have to buy their raw oil product from dirty Americans vice them others. Also, the cotton folks will yell with them because we could produce hemp clothing --lotsa jobs--that would last a lifetime. Paper companies? Don't ask. It must come but not until the last few drops of petroleum are in the pipeline.
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