The cornfields here in Iowa are looking a little brown around the edges. We’re on the edge of the worst Midwest drought since 1988. I’ve been worried about this since we finished winter without any snow cover. Not much rain fell this spring, and this summer has been really hot and dry. My area is about 5 inches below normal rain fall. As you may have heard, a good chunk of the corn belt is in similar or worse straits. Some areas in Indiana and Arkansas are 12 inches below normal rain fall.
The U.S. Agriculture Department has issued a natural disaster declaration for more than 1,000 U.S. counties facing severe drought. This disaster declaration is the largest ever from the Agriculture Department and includes one-third of counties and spans 26 states.
Who eats corn? You may not be a fan of canned corn, but I promise you, you eat a lot more corn than you think. Most of the cattle and pigs and poultry slaughtered in this country are fed large quantities of corn. With meat prices already at record highs, things may get really uncomfortable, really quickly. If the corn crop fails and not enough is harvested, corn prices will rise. Meat producers will respond by slaughtering animals to reduce the head count they have to keep fed. This means ample meat availability and lower prices this year, but in 6-9 months, there will be far less meat on the market than would normally be out there for sale. Those animals will have been slaughtered early, at smaller weights, just to get rid of them. What is available will have eaten 6 months worth of expensive corn and be priced accordingly. Or, it will have eaten 6 months worth of the grossest assortment of slaughterhouse leftovers you can imagine, as a cheaper alternative to corn.
Chris Hurt, another Purdue agricultural economist, says food inflation, which had been estimated at 2.5%-3.5% for this year, likely will rise to 3% to 3.5%, and “more of that will be coming at us in 2013.”
Everything that uses corn syrup as sweetener is going to rise in price. That means everything from cereal to soft drinks, ketchup to ice cream. Now, I know I’ve pretty much weaned my family off of anything that contains corn syrup. That will help, but we do buy meat, and eggs and milk and butter and cheese, and I bet all of that is going to go up. I have grass fed sources for some of that, but not all of it.
Retail ground-beef in the U.S. averaged $3.016 a pound in March, the highest since at least 1984, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Grocers sold whole chickens at a record $1.401 a pound on average in April, and bone-in breasts rose 12 percent this year, government data show. The Iowa Corn Growers Association estimates one bushel of the grain converts to 5.6 pounds of retail beef. So, watch the bushel price on the Commodity Exchange markets, and you can estimate the the price of beef in the store. (If you don’t drive yourself to drink first.)
Are you prepped for corn crop failure and higher priced food? You had better get that way quick.
- Calamity Jane
Yup, everybody has gone on and on about food stamps. BUT, what the big boys are tryin’ to do is stave off food riots. I’m not worried about riseing food prices, I’m woried about widespred starvation. Followed by 40 million hungry, pissed off, welfare refugees armed with AK47′s & SKS’s , boiling out of the cities to claim there “Entitalments”. We talk about” when TSHTF” , well folks, IT ALLREADY HAS! In 2008, and it dos’nt matter who gets to be king in 2013 it’s only gonna get worse frome here. Whats next? UN “peacekeepers” ? Door to door gun/food grabs? Civil War? Don’t know , but from here on it gonna get ugly. FAST! Myself I don’t want to be standing in the river d-nile when the shootin’ starts. —-Ray in Ky
There is always an upside for the “man” as to why these man induced catastrophic events take place – what is it now? Food riots? Civil War? The economic collapse of America?
There is no upside or profit in it so it ain’t going to happen & forget about the world ending in 2012 or 2013. Run, hide & be scared, hoard food & hunker down while nothing happens. We are years off from any kind of SHTF because the stage isn’t set.
It will be a quiet take over with most of the masses numbed or distracted at the latest Kardashian or Charlie Sheen foolishness because it is the most economical way to gain control of the lemmings.
Level Iraq upside – secure oil rights in order to squeeze Iran which is working.
Maiming Afghanistan upside –
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19769
Level the Twin Towers upside – The Patriot Act & TSA. They would actually kill 1,200+ Americans to put these controls into place?! Absolutely, lambs have ALWAYS been sacrificed. BTW, why did the WTC 7 building collapse when it was not hit by a plane? Hmmm, it is such a mystery ……
And so it goes …
The old saying is “follow the money” & it is correct. The table is tipped and the nickels, dimes & quarters are flowing into one funnel.
Here’s my prediction -
A one world government & under a single leader, EVERYTHING will be under surveillance & cashless society tied into something that is DNA specific within 10 years.
One world government – the U.N. has been modeling this for years.
Single leader – everybody needs a some sort of figure to relate to.
Surveillance – keeps the dissidents quelled.
Cashless society tied into something DNA like – serves 2 purposes: 1. Safety from armed robbery. 2. Get us all into a centralized database.
This prediction isn’t much of a stretch because the frameworks are already built & beta tested, it just takes time to ween us all into it but it WILL happen.
Why is the NSA, THE most powerful shadow government in the world by 10 fold, building a major spy facility in the desert of Utah? Gee, I wonder ….
Problem with that is , control is a fantisy. I don’t have it , they don’t you don’t . no one can predict what will come. BUT government don’t know that! They want toatal control, And will never have it, but they are willing to kill a shitload of people to get it. But please, carry on beliveing in the POWER of the great alphabet soup. Unless I GIVE THEM POWER over ME they will never have it. Because Violence can only kill me . I will never submit. People are very angry now , NOTHING the government wants or plans will change or channel that, and hunger begets revolution. But please belive as you will; it your right, Me i’ll keep hoein’ my garden.
Ray I’ve got news for you – they already have power over you. The land you hoe you believe is yours but it isn’t. If they want to take it, they will & use something like eminent domain & take it legally. Pull a gun, stamp your feet, shake your fist in protest – its all for naught.
Drive down the road & exceed the speed limit – or not – you get pulled over. Argue, pose a threat & off to the slammer for you. Keep up the belligerent talk & suddenly you’re a terrorist threat & you can be held for as long as they want to keep you & your Constitutional rights are non-existent because of the thing called the Patriot Act.
You’re such an easy mark my friend but you are right about one thing – you didn’t give them power, they simply took it from you.
Jason , My family has lived in kentucky for over 200 years, several local LEO,State LEO’s &ECT are my kin. In 40+ years I’v never been pulled over(mainly cause my truck is a POS and won’t break the speed limit) . In fact MOST of the LEO’s here are OK guy’s. Part time cop’s & full time farmers. The patriot act is just words on paper. GOD gave me my “rights” at birth . Only GOD can take them. I’m just an old hillbilly, dressed in bibs, in an old truck with a garden. I don’t protest ,rage or shake my anything , Cause I don’t give a shit about the feds. My family was here long before there WAS a US government. GOD willing We’ll be here long after there gone. Fear is sad, Paranoia is painful , Rage makes you sick .I try to get my day done without them. The only thing I CAN do Is , HOPE for the best, Prep for the worst, and be ready to die when my time comes . ( PS) Eminent Domain in the commonwelth of Kentucky — A judge issues a writ , you get 10 days to respond ,they give you a trial by jury and IF you lose THEY MUST BY LAW pay the FULL MARKET VALUE of your property . OH! and in ky you cannot be evicted untill you harvest your garden. ( silly troll) —- Ray in Ky
Ray, thanks for filling me in with your seeming backwoods existence (no offense intended), it was something to which I had not a clue.
Point being, I was addressing & making some illustrations towards your comment regarding increased government control. Granted the enforcement & application of the Patriot Act in your world is highly improbable but does that mean it isn’t enforceable in the vast majority of the population? (The answer is “NO”)
Most of America exists far from the hills of Kentucky & things like the Patriot Act, “unlawful detention”, diminished Constitutional rights etc are real & valid concerns. Here is a real life example that happened to me about 3 months ago:
I was driving across town & decided to take a short cut as I’ve done for over 20 years and it goes through a not desirable part of town. A cop saw me, followed me at a distance of several hundred yards & decided to pull me over after a couple of miles driving city streets.
They stated I ran trough a stop sign which I know for a fact I did not. I smiled, gave them he information they asked for & figured I argue it out in court. Next they asked me to step out of the car, asked me when I got out of prison & I was at a loss since I’ve never been in prison. They continued to interrogate me, put me against the car & patted me down thoroughly then asked me to sit on the curb like a wanted criminal.
I was on my way to pick up my 7 year old son & could not be late so I said very little in order to avoid a verbal standoff explaining my knowledge of my rights. They illegally searched my entire car, ran background checks on me while I sat on the curb, flanked by another cop who kept telling me to remain in some uncomfortable sitting position that I ultimately said I had enough & sat the way I wanted.
They finished with no apology then allowed me to make an illegal U turn right in front of them. I received no ticket & no explanation. Imagine if I had several guns in the trunk & had been to the shooting range earlier that day – fully within my rights – it would have been a shit storm & I’d be lucky if I wasn’t cuffed & hauled off to jail.
This is a sample of the kind of world that exists far from your isolated world.
PS
My crime? I was a white guy driving a normal car through a highly Hispanic area & was assumed I was a drug dealer.
Man thats a drag, Yeh its rough livin this (semi) country life . Hell I’d still live up the” holler” if my wife would have it, But she grew up on a 2000 acr. dairy farm , and is’nt all that hot to go back to feedin’ and milkin’ at 0 dark early. As it is, I wake up to turky, deer , and bunnies in my yard on an ALMOST dayly basis . Outside 12 blocks in Louisvill , 8 blocks of Lexington and Covington there realy is’nt much violent crime here in Ky, AND we are an” open carry/ conceal carry state” . We have some of the best hunting and fishing on earth with deer, elk , wild boar, grouse and, bobwhites ( and thats just my moms farm) . We have walleye, sturgon , spoonbill , catfish , bass, trout & bluegill All within 7 miles of my home. I do belive that the KSP ( kentucky State Police) are the best trained and most professonel LEO’s in the US . . Yes SIR this country life is hard , you have to work at it. But the pay off is SECURITY . I can leave this house with my wife & child & BOB’s and WALK to my, or my wifes family farm , stoping every night,at a diferent farm. AND THEY WILL ALL BE KIN. This is the problem in most of the US . Ya’ll got no place to go where you can visit your kin. Your familys have scattered to the winds. So when the hard/starvin’ times come , ya’ll got nowhere to go, There ‘s none to support you when you’r old or hurt. Isolated World? GOD I wish! I wish It was still dirt roads ,mule teams&wagons no TV and coal smoke of a winter morning. I miss the smell of biscutt and gravy from the old wood stove. I miss buckin’ hay in the summer , makin’ sorgum in the fall , and bucherin, on the coldest day of the year. I miss everyone within 20 miles knowing my name. I even miss strippin’ ‘baccer . I miss a way of life most of you have never known. I try to keep little bits alive for my child, I garden, I can , I try to teach the old songs and the old ways, the old values. Isolated World. Man I Wish.(ps) I don’t know what to say about your brush with the law. The loss of dignity allways hurts. Tell ya’ll a little story . In 2010 I was driveing home from cancer clinic( about 2 blocks from da hood) With the following in my truck (1) M-1917 S&W .45 acp revolver (2) FULL QUARTS of liqwid Morphine sulphate (1) full box of Fentenil patches ( Why I had the gun) And other groovy things. I got stoped. the officer walked up and asked: Do you have any drugs or guns in the car ? Anser; yes sir : Cop ; SAY WHAT? : anser YES SIR I am in treatment at the gram – Brown center: Cop ; What do you have in the car? So I Told him; Cop ; Please step out of the car : Me OK But will you help me ? I have a mediport Implant and a “G” Tube ; Cop: pull up your shirt: I did : cop : JESUS H CHRIST (tube’s, wires,RAD burns badages ECT. At that time I looked BAD .) ARE YOU SAFE TO DRIVE? Me : yes sir I’m goin’ home to lay down and start my pain meds.: Cop : Are you sure you’r sober? : Me : want my doc’s phone number? :cop No you go home , and don’t drive when you take that(point’s at bag’s) :me No my wife is driving after today.: cop Go home and lay down ,I’ll pray for ya’. he never did ask about the gun .And that is my cop story.
Not to be religious however your prediction sounds something like this:
“16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: 17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. 18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.” (Chapter 13 Verses 16-18, The Book of the Revelation of Saint John the Divine (King James Version)).
Now that is a prediction indeed!
Strange coincidence ….. :^)
“Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built. But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.”
Luke 17:28-30
“You shall hear of wars and rumors of wars. . . . Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in diverse places.”
Matthew 24:6-7
The best for last … sound familiar?
This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.”
2 Timothy 3:1-5
very good analysis. i’m going to the LDS food center on saturday to stock up.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jK-NcRmVcw
im headed to the stores TODAY and stockin up on what i can
Jane, I think the list is far shorter of items that are NOT made with corn.
My son did his high school senior thesis on nutrition & really dug into corn as part of his study & was astounded how widely used it is. Most of us think of it as an off the cob meal in summer & canned the rest of the year ….
I’ve got my little off the cob summer meals covered by a little plot in the victory garden. Neighbors with shallow wells have been complaining about more sediment clogging up the filters and odor changes with the water though.
Also keep in mind that Ethanol is mandated by law to be placed into gasoline. It take more energy to produce a gallon of Ethanol that that gallon can produce. Further, the greenies at the EPA are close to upping Ethanol from 10% to 15%.
That’s going to take a lot of food corn off the plate (pun intended)
In the great Book; The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan is a wonderful introduction to the world of Industrial Consolidated Agriculture. Pollan does a wonderful job of explaining in layman’s terms about the commodity known to the professional world as; Feed Corn #2 and it’s place as king of agriculture due to it’s complete domination of the market and it’s use by the multinational giants Monsanto and Con-Agra. In other words, if you don’t raise it yourself, or know the producer personally, then chances are you as a consumer are using products manufactured by these two corporations. People can look at the recent drought in several ways; one it’s like the fedgov says, a disaster or two; this is potential salvation in the breaking the back of both multinationals finally leveling the playing field for us who produce food, do it organically and without gov subsidies. So while the drought here in the Desert Southwest is very painful at least I’m not the only joker feeling the pain, plus I’m used to it so in the words of Charleton Heston; “Good Job Tiger, how does it taste?”
Great post.
I have news for you. Everything you’ve heard about the 1930′s Dust Bowl is a lie.
No farming practices or (evil) “European Invasion” caused it. No new farming methods, tree plantings, or government bureaucracies stopped it. It started and stopped of its own accord.
The Dust Bowl was part of a natural recurring cycle of drought in the Plains.
The cycle is roughly 80 to 90 years long, and can bring drought conditions lasting a decade, and be more severe and long-lasting that the “Dust Bowl” drought.
80 to 90 years plus 1930 = 2010 to 2020.
“In this paper,we describe a mid-nineteenth-century drought in part of the western plains—recorded by tree rings—that appears to have persisted for more than a decade in some parts of this region.”
“While this region is recognized as drought prone, the limited length of instrumental records (100 yr or less) precludes a full evaluation of the rarity of these droughts. However, paleoclimatic records provide evidence of climate for years prior to the keeping of instrumental records, and can be used to gauge the severity of droughts in the twentieth century as well as for prior centuries.”
“These reconstructions indicate a period of remarkably sustained drought and low streamflow lasting from approximately 1845 to 1856 that matched or exceeded the severity of the droughts in this area during the 1930s and 1950s.”
“Another indication of western Great Plains drought about this time is seen in the analysis of tree-ring chronologies flanking the Great Plains (Meko 1992). Reconstructions for Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas show severe and prolonged drought peaking about 1860 (Blasing et al. 1988; Stahle and Cleaveland 1988). Drought starts in the mid-1850s in this area, overlapping with the drought identified in eastern Colorado.”
“Widespread drought conditions are indicated somewhat later, overlapping with the Colorado drought, in the decade centered around 1860 in reconstructions for the central and southern plains (Fritts 1983; Blasing et al. 1988).”
“Studies of large spatial patterns of drought (Cook et al. 1996) indicate discontinuous periods of widespread, severe drought during the 1840s and 1850s. In particular, the years 1845–47 and 1855–56 have been reconstructed as severe drought years for large areas of the western and central United States (Cook et al. 2002).”
[DROUGHT IN THE WESTERN GREAT PLAINS, 1845–56: Impacts and Implications; Woodhouse, Lukas, and Brown; Journal of The American Meteorological
Society, October 2002. http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/habitat/documents2/Woodhouse.pdf ]
So …. I guess your saying Al Gore is wrong? :-)
I think this natural occurrence became popularized by the Grapes of Wrath & made the association with the Great Depression.
Well, not really. Though he IS wrong, my point was different.
Actually what I posted was hyperbole. It is in no way scientifically certain that there is a cyclical 80-90 year drought. BUT, it is certainly possible. Nature seems to have a tendency of working in cycles, and both the 1840-1850s and the “Dust Bowl” drought were natural extended severe droughts lasting for years.
So, really, the point was that if you think our food production issues are bad now, just wait until after 4 to 5 (or more) years of drought like this year’s drought.
At least, IF there is an 80-90 year severe drought cycle.
Maybe the government will start manufacturing Soylent Green …
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soylent_Green
Started growing everything I can in pots. Amazing what you can grow in pots, esp. hydroponically. Even had a neighbor who grew corn on her 6×6 deck. When the weather gets crazy (hot/cold/windy/rainy), you have a better chance of moving them & saving them. Even if you can’t have a greenhouse for some reason, the best climate control is your house, your fence, and your covered porch. A lot of people think they can’t grow any food because they don’t have their own yard. I say they’d do better with one pot than trying to create a mini-field.
I’m already starting to see price increases at the feed mill where we buy the feed for our livestock – it’s going up about 5 cents/week. And our hay supplier is already worried that he won’t have enough hay to supply his customers for the winter.
Our landlord won’t let us raise our own beef or pigs – but we can have a few goats, and 6 hens. It doesn’t allow for much to go in the freezer, but it helps with the weekly grocery bill.