Crops  

Great Plains crops range from intensively grown cotton and sugar beets to extensive monocultures of grains, wheat, corn, and soy. The region produces over 60 percent of the wheat, 87 percent of the sorghum, and a third of the cotton, and also raises over 60 percent of the nation's livestock. Crops are grown with capital-intensive tilling methods promoted by the Green Revolution, GMO production, and fossil fuels.

Wheat

The United States grows about one-eighth of the world wheat and two-thirds of wheat production is on the Great Plains. Two types are grown, winter and spring wheat (Map 14.4). Winter wheat is grown in the Southern Great Plains and spring wheat north of the Nebraska Sand Hills. Wheat has been a dryland crop grown where precipitation was inadequate for thirstier corn.


Wheat

 

Map 14.6: Wheat is the main crop grown in the Great Plains. Winter wheat is prevalent in the southern plains and Spring wheat to the north.

 

 

 

 

 

    

 

 

At 50 percent the American wheat crop is the most exported crop. Genetically modified (GM) wheat is due on the market soon though many world markets, including the lucrative European market, have refused GM crops. Many farmers are worried about the consequences of GM wheat and the export market.

Corn

The United States produces more corn than any other country in the world. Today Ogallala water irrigates corn grown on the arid land once used for dryland sorghum and wheat (Map 14.5). Corn requires thirty inches of growing season precipitation, which was impossible on the plains until fossil fuel pumping of groundwater was introduced in the 1960s. Great Plains corn production damages the landscape because growing corn in a region with more evaporation than precipitation upsets the water balance equilibrium. The fossil fuels used to grow corn and process it into food and other products far outstrip what it supplies in calories and energy.

Traditionally about 70 percent of all corn is for livestock consumption although in the twenty-first century increasing amounts have been converted to ethanol. The remainder is used for human consumption of processed foods or as sweeteners (high fructose corn syrup). Most corn grown is feed corn, not sweet corn that is eaten on the cob.

Corn

 

 

Map 14.7: Corn harvested and its relation to the Ogallala aquifer, 2002. Corn is not grown naturally in the Great Plain because of a lack of moisture. After tapping the Ogallala aquifer corn crop production increased using aquifer water, but unsustainably. By 2025 it is estimated that aquifer water will no longer be economical to use.


 

 



The increased demand for ethanol changed the corn market. The 2007 corn crop was the largest since World War II, because increased ethanol production created a need for more corn, at the expense of other crops, especially soy. Corn prices spiked. The choice has affected world markets, and the long-term affect, including impact on the Ogallala Aquifer, has yet to be measured.

Canola

In 1974 Canada satisfied a shortage of monounsaturated domestic oil  by engineering a new crop, canola, from rapeseed. Used for industrial purposes, rapeseed oil is toxic to humans because of erucic acid. Canola was created, and later genetically modified to substantially reduce the toxic acid. Canola is a cooking oil and margarine, and is a feed grain for sheep and cattle when there is a shortage of other feed grains. Fields of bright yellow canola grace the Northern Plains and the Prairies of Canada, where it is a major cash crop on par with wheat production.

Sorghum

Sorghum is indigenous to Africa, where it is a food crop, but in the United States, sorghum is a High Plains feed grain also called milo, kaffir, hegari, and darso. The plant is similar to corn in appearance but is a drought resistant crop that requires far less water than corn.

Cotton

The Ogallala Aquifer is the most intensively used aquifer in the U.S….Without question, the future for [the Llano Estacado] will not be a continuation of past practices. Water in sufficient quantities will not be available to support the irrigation practices and cropping systems that came to characterize this region during the last century.[24]

After the boll weevil debacle in the Cotton Belt cotton production moved to western Texas. From 1900 until 1929, the Llano Estacado received above average rainfall and cotton was extensively cultivated, but cotton production ended with the Dust Bowl era and then resumed after World War II. About 25 percent of U.S. cotton is grown in the Llano Estacado augmented by Ogallala water and increased mechanization. The Southwestern states dominated cotton production from the 1970s into the twenty-first century, led by California’s San Joaquin Valley and the Llano Estacado. However, falling water levels in the Ogallala have caused many large cotton growers to migrate back to the Mississippi Delta region or other points in the South. Cotton production has been further depressed by falling prices.

Farms continue cotton production because of government subsidy programs. American cotton subsidies are one of the most controversial on World Trade Organization (WTO) markets, and are being accused of destroying lesser-developed markets in a free trade economy. To make matters worse, low prices hinder cotton while other crops are receiving bonus subsidies. Mississippi Delta cotton production declined 50 percent in 2008 from 2007 levels because of low prices for cotton and high c=prices for corn. Farmers chose to grow corn.        

Despite the unsustainable impact of ethanol corn and the subsequent drop in cotton production, studies have been ongoing since 1997 to find more sustainable methods to continue cotton production. Included in the findings has been reduction of water use and a more integrated system that includes all three aspects of the triple bottom-line.

Sunflowers

The plains have increased sunflowers growth for both oil and seed. Sunflowers are popular crops because they require about one third less water than corn and half the water needed to grow hay. The Dakotas grow the most sunflowers, followed by Kansas, Minnesota, and Colorado.

Other Crops

In the glaciated plain of Montana, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, irrigated land use is concentrated in feed grains and sugar beets. Canadian barley and flax grow in areas that are too cold or dry for corn. Barley is used for the production of beer and also is the principal livestock feed in the northern Plains. Flax has the health benefits of Omega 3 fatty acids, is also spun into linen or made into linseed oil, a paint additive.

Livestock and the Meat Processing Industry

Grazing land is usually unsuitable cropland either because it lacks fertility or water. The U.S. and Canadian Plains have been long time livestock producers, but have accelerated production since the 1990s. The Plains supply 60 percent of grain fed cattle and have over half of all U.S. and Canadian beef processing plants. The cattle, dairy, and hog industries have grown apace with access to the Ogallala.

Cattle

Cattle have been an important industry on the Plains. However the patterns have changed. Shipping beef to slaughterhouses in Chicago is no longer necessary. Refrigeration and transportation allows meat to be grown, fattened, and processed within miles of each other and then shipped globally. All three segments of beef production are now located on the High Plains. In Canada, 40 percent of beef cattle production is in Alberta, where feed and processing are combined.

Turning cattle to beef is a three step process. Cows are grass fed for six months, finishing in feedlots for eight months; then taken to the slaughter house. Feedlots are used for two reasons, Americans have developed a taste for corn-fed meat, and feedlot cattle gain weight rapidly. Cattle are not genetically disposed to eating corn, they are ruminants, but the fast weight gain for corn fed meat has made this method almost ubiquitous. A grass fed beef niche market has evolved for those who prefer the health benefits and more direct transfer of solar energy to humans. Grass fed beef are far less reliant on fossil fuels and are high in saturated fats and low in Omega-3 fatty acids: corn fed beef is responsible for increased heart disease. And cattle raised on grass and moved so as not to overgraze are as healthy for the environment as were the buffalo.

Livestock use only about 3 percent of regional water. However corn, a main ingredient of feed is now grown locally due to access of Ogallala water. When the water requirements for growing irrigated corn on the plains are factored into livestock production, over 90 percent of water withdrawal from the aquifer is for livestock production. This pattern reflects short-term thinking and is unsustainable. Additional environmental questions concern the intensive cattle processing industry, manure disposal methods, and air and water pollution.

Dairy

Dairying has not been a large component of Great Plains agriculture until the 1970s when the New Mexico dairy industry began growing. From 1970 to 1995 New Mexico dairies grew fifteen fold, concentrating along the Texas border. New Mexico entered the 1990s thirtieth in overall milk production, exited the decade ranked tenth, and was seventh and eighth respectively in milk and cheese production in 2005. Alfalfa, inexpensive land, climate, access to transportation, and technologic advancement allowed this isolated area to prosper.

The New Mexico dairy herd averages more than 2,000 cows each and is dependent on Ogallala water, increasing the possibility of contaminated groundwater and concentrating manure in a small land area, which then suffers from over-fertilization.

Hogs
In 1995 CAFO hog production began in the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles and then diffused across the plains states. Texas County Oklahoma’s rapid and intense growth saw the county grow from the 797th largest county producing hogs to third largest between the years of 1992 and 1997, increasing annual hog production from 4,000 animals in the early 1990s to over a million hogs by the decade’s end (Figure 14.14).

The pork industry justified its move to the Plains by saying it would create jobs, stimulate a moribund rural economy, increase the tax base, and create a more efficient method of pork production. Other unstated reasons included the economic benefits, the availability of Ogallala water, the access to feed, a sparsely populated space, and lax environmental regulations. CAFO hog production in vertically integrated companies has prospered economically but has had dire environmental and social consequences.


 

 

 

Figure 14.14: Hog barns and lagoon, Texas County, Oklahoma. Each hog barn holds 1,000 hogs, whose waste is flushed into the lagoon. Lagoon wastewater fertilizes nearby fields, sometimes resulting in over-fertilization and water pollution.

 

 

Unintended Consequences

The unintended consequences are as follows:

The odor is caused by gases created when manure decomposes. The interaction between compounds creates the gases and has proved difficult to eradicate. Large amounts of phosphorus and nitrogen rich manure spread over relatively small areas contaminate water. Though applying manure to farmland is a tried and true method of increasing crop production while managing waste, it must be applied at proper rates. Too many nutrients result in fish kills, degradation of water quality, and contamination of drinking water.

Locall and Bioregional Impacts
Animal waste runoff from CAFO production is one of the major contaminants of waterways. Agricultural runoff has polluted Chesapeake Bay (Chickens), The Pamlico Sound, NC (Hogs), and the Ogallala aquifer (corn feed production).  The dead zones (Chapter 11 Gulf Coast) are also the result of agricultural runoff.  
Odor and contamination have pitted rural neighbors against one another and disenfranchised many hog farmers from their communities.

External Costs

Processing plant communities experience a shift in demographics and increased community discord. People who work in the plants are often undocumented immigrants from Mexico and Central America. The rural communities where they are based are seldom prepared to integrate the new population. The immigrant workers fill the need when few locals want these low wage and dangerous jobs.

Originally, the region was home to individual farmers and ranchers, but non-local vertically integrated corporate food companies have become the main source of hogs. Production and pollution are located in the Great Plains, but the corporations are non-local, and the profits leave the region, so the local populace benefits little from the industry.

Health costs from CAFO production include heart disease, stroke, diabetes, center and respiratory illness for farmers and workers. Antibiotic resistance caused by overusing antibiotics for growth promotion has increased human vulnerability to infection. The combined costs increase social services for immigrants without insurance, insurance costs for those who are covered, and reduce productivity.

Box 14.16

Sustainable Meat

Americans eat an average of 200 pounds of meat annually, 60 pounds more than in the 1950s. The increased meat production affects greenhouse gases, and places stresses on the land, water, and economy. Most cattle are finished on corn, because they gain weight quicker on a corn diet. The cattle only spend a portion of their life eating grass; the rest is spent in a feedlot. It takes about seven pounds of feed to grow one pound of beef, and three to four pounds of feed to grow one pound of pork. Cattle grazing require huge swathes of land where millions of cattle emit methane and carbon dioxide. Producing one pound of beef produces as much CO2 as using three gallons of gas.[25] Feed production is dependent on fossil fuels used in the fertilizers, herbicides, pumping, irrigation water, and transporting the meat to market. The land becomes polluted from over fertilization and pesticide use.

The livestock industry is an unstable roller coaster ride in profits and losses that has caused many livestock producers to seek the stability of contract livestock as a risk management tool. Though it does provide the stability ranchers seek, it also has decreased per head profits forcing larger operations and consolidation. The economics of the current livestock industry depends on continued increase in consumption, making the per capita growth of meat consumption ecologically unsustainable.

Box 14.17
Contract Farming

Why own farms if you can own the farmers?
(Neil Hamilton, Agricultural law expert, commenting on corporations owning farms) [26]

Contract farming, where a farmer raises crops or animals for a much larger, usually corporate concern is favored by agribusiness because it standardizes cost, quality control, and reduces market and environmental risks for the corporation, while the contract farmer owns the land and accepts a steady but small wage over the more unstable commodity economy. For example, corporations are not burdened with owning manure filled lagoons that have been a source of environmental complaints, both because they are malignant smelling, and because they produce and disperse more manure than the local ground can carry, thereby polluting surface and groundwater.

            For family farmers the story is different. American family farmers are now more fragile than their land. As farms grow larger, the small farmer survives with difficulty. In fact, most small farms in America find it impossible to survive economically if they do not receive subsidies or work at outside jobs.

Family farmers save their farms by choosing to contract farm because it stabilizes income. The corporation owns the product and the farmer is given explicit production instructions. The corporation makes all decisions. The farmer supplies the labor and the land. In hog production, the farmer builds the large metal hog barns. Banks are usually only willing to finance such barns, costing nearly $200,000 each, to farmers who hold corporate contracts. The advantage of the contract system for farmers is risk reduction, and receiving a steady paycheck, rather than dependence on cyclical weather patterns and market fluctuations. The disadvantage is farmers are at the mercy of corporations who may change or cancel the contracts, and often make decisions that are not environmentally healthy or sustainable.

For example, in 2002 Tyson Foods hog-production decided that their Oklahoma contract farmers were not a profitable sector for the corporation and cancelled their contracts. This had become a major source of income for the farmers, so they were victimized by the cancellation. The contract farmers took Tyson to court in 2002 and received a $42 million settlement in 2005.

The growth of vertically integrated agribusiness often depends on the small family farmer to supply the needed product, and the family farmer often choose contract farming as the only way for them to save the family farm land. Contract farming reduces risk and uncertainty, but at the cost of a limited income and environmental damage to the farmer’s land.

 

U.S. Agricultural Exports

Agricultural exports have historically been a large part of U.S. trade. The shift to GMO though has affected this trade, because many countries, such as the European Union, have restricted acceptance of genetically modified (GM) products. Agricultural exports have shifted to Asian countries, such as China and Japan, but some are due to shifts within the U.S. economy, such as the growing interest in ethanol and its effects on corn production.

China, the current largest export market, is changing its use of agricultural land and water. Facing water shortages China has moved away from water hungry grain crops toward more water efficient fruits and vegetables that produce a per pound higher income. In the process China has upset several fruit and vegetable markets in America, and become increasingly dependent on foreign grains. China receives much of the U.S. grown GM canola, corn, cotton, and soy products. Half of China’s soy consumption is with U.S. grown GM soy, although the market may have peaked due to more U.S. farmland raising corn for biofuel production.

Since the 1990s the highest quality CAFO pork has been exported to the Japanese who pay up to eight times more than Americans for fresh pork. In 2005 almost 45 percent of all pork exports went to Japan; however, by 2008 China, a market ten times as large as Japan, became the largest importer of U.S. pork because of decreased Chinese production and the weak American dollar.

 

Canadian Agricultural Policy

By the late nineteenth century the Canadian Prairie region had been settled and farmed, but farmers were constricted in their ability to sell wheat, their most important crop. Grain elevator ownership had consolidated, offered uniform crop prices, and had developed a speculative market that often hurt the farmer’s price. By the 1920s farmers formed cooperative elevator companies to gain a competitive position and stabilize prices. But the fall of wheat prices in 1930 ended many of the farmer’s pools and the government became increasingly involved in marketing grain.

Canadian wheat farmers created cooperatives to influence the National Policy that favored the Corridor. Farmers both rejected the open market, and eliminated competition and price manipulations, while attempting to gain economic independence.Ultimately the farmers were unable to control market speculations. The only way farmers may receive an equitable price on their crop has been government controlled subsidies, however in the global agricultural economy lesser-developed countries consider trade distorted when developed countries subsidize crops. 

Canadian farmer cooperatives gained bargaining strength for a while, but they were often overpowered by the Corridor and the National Policy that does not fully address their needs. Farmers were further limited by their place in the global wheat economy. During the early twentieth century the inner versus outer Canadian policies affecting agriculture culminated in the rise of separate political parties in the Prairie region.

Carbon Sinks and Sequestration in Canada

Grasslands are carbon sinks, they remove carbon dioxide from the air (carbon sequestration). Canadian agriculture accounts for about 15 percent of Canada’s total greenhouse gas emissions. In an effort to reduce its ecological footprint Canada signed the Kyoto Protocol but was unable to meet its goals, largely because of rising carbon dioxide levels. Converting grasslands to agriculture has increased the carbon dioxide level. The Canadian government supports carbon sinks (sequestering carbon in soil) limiting carbon dioxide buildup, and improving agricultural soil. Good land management practices carbon sequestering, such as no-till seeding, reducing fallows, and cultivating forage crops.[27]

Carbon sequestering is a controversial subject, especially when attempting to define carbon sinks, but has any benefits, such as improving soil quality and nutrients, improving filtration and moisture and thereby improving waterways by decreasing runoff pollution. Carbon sequestering improves soil quality and insures food security, while decreasing dependence on fossil fuels fertilizers. Canada moved closer to sustainability in 2000 when it actively began to sequester carbon, improve soil, and increase food production.

 

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[24] V.G. Allen, C.P. Brown, E. Segarra, C.J. Green, T.A. Wheeler, V. Acosta-Martinez, and T.M. Zobeck. “In search of sustainable agricultural systems for the Llano Estacado of the U.S. Southern High Plains,” Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 124.1-2, March 2008

[25] V.G. Allen, C.P. Brown, E. Segarra, C.J. Green, T.A. Wheeler, V. Acosta-Martinez, and T.M. Zobeck. “In search of sustainable agricultural systems for the Llano Estacado of the U.S. Southern High Plains,” Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 124.1-2, March 2008

Dan Campbell, “Unstable Farm Markets Prompt More Growers to Bargaining Co-
ops,” Rural Cooperative Magazine, July/August 2002.

[27] G.M. Luciuk, M.A. Bonneau, D.M. Boyle and E. Viberg “Carbon Sequestration - Additional Environmental Benefits of Forages in the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration Permanent Cover Program,” 2007.

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