Corn and soybean production

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Corn and soybean production
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US Select Crop Value 2006 Billions of Dollars
33.8
19.7
7.7
0.9
0.9
0.2
Oats
Barley
Sor-ghum
Wheat
Soy-bean
Corn
NASS
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Small grain production
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Corn

• Graze corn - alternative pasture
• Corn silage - dairy
• High moisture corn
• Grain

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Top ten corn producing states, representing 84
of US production, 2006 (NASS)
State Production (billion bu) Yield (bu/A) Price (/bu)
Iowa 2.1 166 3.15
Illinois 1.8 163 3.35
Nebraska 1.1 152 3.15
Minnesota 1.1 161 3.15
Indiana 0.84 157 3.35
Ohio 0.47 159 3.30
Wisconsin 0.40 143 3.30
Missouri 0.36 138 3.10
Kansas 0.35 115 3.20
S. Dakota 0.32 97 2.95
US total 10.5 149 3.20
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152.6
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2005-2006 U.S. corn use
Corn use U.S. billion bu ()
Feed/residual 6.1 (55)
Exports 2.1 (19)
Ethanol 1.6 (14.3)
Corn starch for food, industrial use 0.275 (2.5)
High fructose corn syrup/corn sweeteners 0.225 (2.0)
Cereal/chips/other 0.190 (1.7)
Beverage alcohol 0.135 (1.2)
Total 11.2
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Top ten soybean producing states, representing
75 of US production. 2006 (NASS)
State Production (thousand bu) Yield (bu/A) Price (/bu)
Iowa 510 51 6.25
Illinois 482 48 6.40
Minnesota 319 44 5.95
Indiana 284 50 6.30
Nebraska 251 50 5.90
Ohio 217 47 6.25
Missouri 194 38 6.30
S. Dakota 131 34 5.70
N. Dakota 120 31 5.85
Arkansas 107 35 6.50
US total 3188 43 6.20
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39.6
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US Soybean Acres
Million acres
64.1
63.3
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2007 Soybeans Planted Acres (1000) and change
from previous year
US 64,081
11,441
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2007 Corn Planted Acres (1000) and change from
previous year
US 92,888 14,561
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Uses for soybean

• Oil, human, 81 of edible fats in US
• Soybean meal, 38.1 mil ton
• Soydiesel, biodiesel
• Ink
• Crayons
• Crop oil as surfactants
• Wax
• Aquaculture
• Lubricants

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Why does the Midwest lead in grain production?

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Glaciers shaped the Midwest
Late Wisconsinan - 10,500-30,000 yrs BP
Pre-Illinoian - 500,000-2,500,000 yrs BP
Illinoian - 130,000-300,000 yrs BP
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Estimated extent of the tall grass prairie, about
1800 Representing approx. 400 million acres
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Mollisols are the soils of grassland ecosystems,
characterized by a thick, dark surface horizon.
This fertile surface horizon, known as a mollic
epipedon, results from the long-term addition of
organic materials derived from plant roots.
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Iowas (Midwest) Landscape Changed

• Iowas tall grass prairie declined from12.6
  million ha to 24,560 ha, a 99.9 decrease
• The tall grass prairies were erased before they
  were understood. R. DeHaan

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Iowas (Midwest) Landscape Changed

• Causes
• Human settlement
• Steel, moldboard plow
• Water drainage of land
• Agriculture production, WW II
• Chemicals
• Specialization
• Urban development?
• Biofuel production?

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historywired.si.edu/ images/objects/212a.jpg
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Prairie potholes
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Image of NRCS
Tiling of prairies and wetlands to drain water
for agriculture and development
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Yield increase (bu) with subsurface drainage
Crop Iowa 1984-1986 Ohio 1962-1980 Ontario 1979-1986
Corn 10-45 20-30 26
Soybeans 4-15 7-14 7
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(as N)
Source USGS, 2005
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Nitrate-Nitrogen Loss in Tile Drainage (Randall
et al., 1997)
Cropping system NO3-N loss (kg ha-1 yr-1)
Continuous corn 55
Corn-soybean rotation 51
Alfalfa 2
CRP (perennial grasses and alfalfa) 1
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Tillage systems for seedbed preparation
Operation Conventional tillage Reduced, minimum, conservation Ridge-till Strip-tillage No-till
Primary tillage/land preparation Chisel plow, often in the fall, 30-85 residueDisk-harrow/field cultivator 30-80 Chisel plow with harrow fall or spring Deep ripping, fall, 12-14 in. 50 residue Scrap off ridges burying manure and weeds at planting, 40-60 Inject anhydrous ammonia into the soil, fall 70 residue
Secondary tillage/weed control rotary hoe (2 passes), row-crop cultivation (1-3 passes)little chemical control of weeds 0-1 pass cultivationchemical control of weeds rotary hoe, 1-2 pass cultivation, last cultivation makes the ridges for next year, banding chemicals chemical control of weeds
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Production Cycle, corn and soybeans alternating
years
Oct. - Nov. Stalk chopping, deep ripping,
fertility application, liming, seedbed tillage
Dec. - Jan. Fields remain dormant
April - May Pre-plant seedbed prep.,
fertility source, pre- plant herbicides,
planting late April-end of May
June - July Pre-emergent herbicides,
post-emergent herbicides, mechanical weed
control
Aug. Soybean pest control
Sept. - Oct Harvest
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Fertility needs

• N - 0.0-1.2 lb/bu (56 lb/bu) 35.5 lb/bu (60
  lb/bu)
• P2O5 - 0.36 lb/bu 0.82 lb/bu
• K2O - 0.26 lb/bu 1.00 lb/bu

Water needs 20-24 inches of water - 150-200
bu corn 50-60 bu soybeans
pH, liming needs corn - 6.0-7.0 soybeans -
6.5-7.0
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Phosphorus recommendations

• Site-specific management
• uses grid sampling
• recommendations are made for each 2.5-5.0 acre
  cell
• image represents 152 acres

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• Zone management
• Soil sample according to
• soil type
• previous management
• landscape
• Zones are variable sizes
• Less samples, less costly

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Problems

• Seemingly erratic weather, the only aspect of
  farming that is not controlled
• High N and P levels in surface water, because of
  subsurface drainage and less filtering by the
  soil
• Corn/soybean monoculture, little crop diversity
  on the landscape
• Less chance to disrupt pest cycles
• Greater outbreaks
• Large supplies of grain
• Corn/soybean monoculture, little genetic
  diversity within each crop
• Greater outbreaks
• Bioterrorism

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• Open canopy much of the year
• not getting the full benefits of sunlight
• erosion, not an perennial system
• unused nutrients, N and P

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• New/more GMO products will increase corn/soybean
  monoculture
• Bt control of corn rootworm
• Continuous corn
• GMO boycotts
• More fertilizer, 30-50 lb N from soybean residue
• Little profit, small margins
• Commodity
• More acres, larger farms
• Consolidation of agricultural industry

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• 2005
• Price/bu Cost of production
• Corn 1.90 2.83
• Soybeans 5.05 6.76

2007 Price/bu Cost of production Corn
3.00 2.88 Soybeans 7.20 6.67
FM 1712, ISU Extension
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Issues

• Should we increase diversity?
• Yes, but how?
• Markets
• Crops
• Stacked genes

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Increase diversity with markets

• Development of new products, increasing demand
  and more acres of monoculture
• Export - some GMO boycotts
• Non-food products - plastics, candles, fibers
• New animal products - soybean meal for
  aquaculture
• Ethanol

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Increase diversity with markets

• Identity preservation
• White corn, high oil corn
• Clear hilum soybeans for human consumption
• Non-GMO grain for foreign export
• Low linolenic acid (low-lin) soybeans
• Organic, fastest growing ag sector
• Farmaceuticals, profit for a very few

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Increase crop diversity

• Perceived problems
• No government payments
• No market, little demand
• Need different equipment, knowledge, skills
• Little research
• Another commodity crop from somewhere else
• BIG paradigm change

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SAG systems

• 5-yr rotation C-Sb-C-Oats underseeded with
  legume-Legume or Sb-C-Sb-Oats underseeded with
  legume-Legume
• Legumes as the fertility source, disrupt pest
  cycles
• Use of organic fertility sources animal manure,
  compost, green manures
• Perennials, diversity in rooting systems, soil
  health, C sequestration, land cover

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• Less herbicides results in more mechanical
  control and tillage, ?increasing erosion  
• Using a living mulch or re-seeding annuals, full
  year cover
• Less fertilizer needs using more realistic yield
  goals
• Applying fertilizer just prior to plant uptake
• Perennial grains, the Land Institute
• Open pollinated (Op) corn, concern about trace
  level contamination of current seed stock with
  genetically modified seed, reduce dependence on
  the chemical/seed industry

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Crop rotation systems(Liebman et al)

• 2-year rotation cornsoybean (conventional
  management)
• 3-year rotation cornsoybeantriticale red
  clover green manure (less fertilizer and
  herbicide, banded herbicides)
• 4-year rotation cornsoybeantriticale
  alfalfaalfalfa hay (less fertilizer and
  herbicide, banded herbicides)
• Composted beef manure applied to forage legumes
  before plowing

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Inputs to cropping systems (Averages for
20032005)
Rotation length Herbicide (kg a.i. ha-1 yr-1) Fertilizer N (kg N ha-1 yr-1)
2-year 2.20 62
3-year 0.64 32
4-year 0.48 18
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Cropping system comparisons
2-year C-SB 4-year C-SB-T/A-A
Labor for field work (hr ha-1 yr-1) 1.85 3.36
Non-land and non-labor costs of production ( ha-1 yr-1) 452 325
Net returns to land, labor, and management ( ha-1 yr-1) 427 475
Net returns to management ( ha-1 yr-1) 67 100
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Three scenarios(Burkart et al., 2005)

• Current conditions for crops, cattle, and hogs
• Alternative 1 more land in oat, forage, and
  eco-reserve decreased land in corn and soybean
  increased cattle less fertilizer N
• Alternative 2 more land in oat, forage, and
  eco-reserve decreased land in corn and soybean
  increased cattle and hogs no N fertilizer

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Predicted Soil NO3-N Concentrations
Current conditions
Alternative 2
Alternative 1
Median 32 kg N ha-1
15 kg N ha-1
10 kg N ha-1
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Organic vs. conventional grain prices week of 5
Sept. 2007 (2005 prices)
Organic Price Index, The New Farm at
http//newfarm.org/opx/
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