Agricultural input shocks affect crop yields more in the high-yielding areas
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Re: Agricultural input shocks affect crop yields more in the high-yielding areas
#2One relevant point, the most important input for corn at least is nitrogen and it can be and is often produced locally. I grew up on an Iowa farm and there was an ammonia plant about 20 minutes away.
There were price and availability shocks because of the Ukraine war and price of natural gas. Ammonia fixation requires energy, atmospheric nitrogen, and hydrogen. The hydrogen is sourced from natural gas (methane), but could just as well be sourced from electrolyzed water at higher cost.
Other fertilizers from mineral sources were significantly globally supplied by Ukraine as well, which was more of a problem.
A tangent problem for farmers is input prices scaling with commodity prices. Seed genetics companies and fertilizers, etc. tend to raise in price to what the market will bear, not particularly to the marginal cost of the product forcing the farming margins to be thin… which puts constant pressure on all but the biggest farmers. Who then advocate for agricultural policy that leads to things only being profitable and possible on very large scales, in general.
Not many small farmers hang on like my family and it just might end with my father if I don’t take it up as a sort of hobby retirement… but that’s not really doing it for real anyway.
Re: Agricultural input shocks affect crop yields more in the high-yielding areas
#3The only lesson here is having a local source of nitrogen, which is natural gas and a way to process it for national security.
Or the alternative, bulldozer more ecosystems.
This is the modus operandi of the CO2 disciples. Zero respect for the environment and people and only the worship of a future rapture ~ a century away.
It's also why food waste is feature not a bug. Only in real extremes people starve.
Not sure how this report is anything more than grass is green.
Re: Agricultural input shocks affect crop yields more in the high-yielding areas
#4The worst thing is that many countries fail to produce staple food of the population instead depend on other countries and blame them when they fail to secure the produce.
Re: Agricultural input shocks affect crop yields more in the high-yielding areas
#5The worst thing is that many countries fail to produce staple food of the population instead depend on other countries and blame them when they fail to secure the produce.
Unlike the economy, food is a zero sum game. Most produce has a limited lifespan, unless you opt to freeze everything, which is not something all consumers desire or buy. This means that most food that leaves the farm must be consumed within a narrow window. Only exporting and importing food from diverse regions will allow you to minimise food waste and therefore have an efficient low-cost market. This also creates countries that are great net exporters.
Re: Agricultural input shocks affect crop yields more in the high-yielding areas
#6Regenerative farming won't help immediately, but it does cut way down on the need for chemicals input while capturing massive amounts of carbon into the soil and growing livestock in the same areas.
Re: Agricultural input shocks affect crop yields more in the high-yielding areas
#7The worst thing is that many countries fail to produce staple food of the population instead depend on other countries and blame them when they fail to secure the produce.
Unlike the economy, food is a zero sum game. Most produce has a limited lifespan, unless you opt to freeze everything, which is not something all consumers desire or buy. This means that most food that leaves the farm must be consumed within a narrow window. Only exporting and importing food from diverse regions will allow you to minimise food waste and therefore have an efficient low-cost market. This also creates c…
That is a narrow view. A lot of foodstuff gets processed into stable products with a shelf life, and grain can be stored for years.
Re: Agricultural input shocks affect crop yields more in the high-yielding areas
#8How is Sri Lanka doing without fertilizer?
Re: Agricultural input shocks affect crop yields more in the high-yielding areas
#9How is Sri Lanka doing without fertilizer?
some background regarding the sri lanka fertilizer f**up: https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2022/7/15/23218969/sri-la...
Re: Agricultural input shocks affect crop yields more in the high-yielding areas
#10The worst thing is that many countries fail to produce staple food of the population instead depend on other countries and blame them when they fail to secure the produce.
Assigning responsibility and agency to state policies for agriculture and targeting self-sufficiency would work quite poorly in today's world. The modern world is fed by growing stuff in places where it grows best, and trading food for other stuff. This also provides robustness against localized crop failures. (And sadly feeding most of that to badly treated farm animals...)