Video Response To King Corn
Johnny Greavu
Student ID: 4391959
PSTL 1112
June 23, 2015
Video Response #2: King Corn
1)
The US planted 91.6 million acres of corn in 2014. This is down 4% from 2013, and the
lowest acreage since 2010, but still the fifth largest since 1944. About 40% of this was used for ethanol production, 36% was fed to livestock, 20% was exported, and only 4% was eaten by humans (much of this being high-fructose corn syrup).
2)
Row crops leave much of the soil (gaps between rows) bare and loose, which allows for
runoff and the topsoil erosion by water, wind, and farming activities. In February 2014,
President Obama signed into law the Agricultural Act of 2014, a 10-year, $956B bill, of which close to 15% annually will go to row crop subsidies. This comes out to about $300 per citizen per year (if entirely funded by taxes) but will supposedly save consumers billions of dollars in the long run. $17.1B in government subsidies went to Minnesota from 1995-2012: $10.5B in commodity subsidies, $3.87B in crop insurance subsidies, $2.08B in conservation subsidies,
$724M in disaster subsidies. $8,164,656,461 (~48%) went to corn subsidies alone. Minnesota received the 4th highest subsidy total during this time out of the 50 states.
3)
As of 2012, at least 40% of Minnesota’s lakes and rivers were impaired by excess
nitrogen and phosphorus caused by pesticide runoff and erosion from heavily farmed watersheds. The dominant source of this pollution comes from excess fertilizer on farms and animal manure (particularly from animals that have eaten crops grown with excess fertilizer).
Other sources include precipitation, faulty sewer/septic systems, the use of fossil fuels, and
personal fertilizer use. Synthesized nitrate (NO3-) based nitrogen was developed in 1909 by
Fritz Haber, a German chemist. Anhydrous ammonia (NH3) is commonly used today.
4)
The largest hypoxic zone or ‘dead zone’ in the US (and second largest in the world) is in
the Gulf of Mexico off the Louisiana
Student ID: 4391959
PSTL 1112
June 23, 2015
Video Response #2: King Corn
1)
The US planted 91.6 million acres of corn in 2014. This is down 4% from 2013, and the
lowest acreage since 2010, but still the fifth largest since 1944. About 40% of this was used for ethanol production, 36% was fed to livestock, 20% was exported, and only 4% was eaten by humans (much of this being high-fructose corn syrup).
2)
Row crops leave much of the soil (gaps between rows) bare and loose, which allows for
runoff and the topsoil erosion by water, wind, and farming activities. In February 2014,
President Obama signed into law the Agricultural Act of 2014, a 10-year, $956B bill, of which close to 15% annually will go to row crop subsidies. This comes out to about $300 per citizen per year (if entirely funded by taxes) but will supposedly save consumers billions of dollars in the long run. $17.1B in government subsidies went to Minnesota from 1995-2012: $10.5B in commodity subsidies, $3.87B in crop insurance subsidies, $2.08B in conservation subsidies,
$724M in disaster subsidies. $8,164,656,461 (~48%) went to corn subsidies alone. Minnesota received the 4th highest subsidy total during this time out of the 50 states.
3)
As of 2012, at least 40% of Minnesota’s lakes and rivers were impaired by excess
nitrogen and phosphorus caused by pesticide runoff and erosion from heavily farmed watersheds. The dominant source of this pollution comes from excess fertilizer on farms and animal manure (particularly from animals that have eaten crops grown with excess fertilizer).
Other sources include precipitation, faulty sewer/septic systems, the use of fossil fuels, and
personal fertilizer use. Synthesized nitrate (NO3-) based nitrogen was developed in 1909 by
Fritz Haber, a German chemist. Anhydrous ammonia (NH3) is commonly used today.
4)
The largest hypoxic zone or ‘dead zone’ in the US (and second largest in the world) is in
the Gulf of Mexico off the Louisiana