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Doubling our current food production may not be enoughBy Doug Rich The food versus fuel debate continues to grab headlines. Ed Schafer, Secretary of Agriculture, and Hugh Grant, Chief Executive Officer, Monsanto Co., gave their views on this topic at a recent meeting of national business editors and writers in Kansas City, Mo. Secretary Schafer said renewable fuels have been both under-reported and over-reported. "Those that seek out ethanol to blame are missing the elephant in the room," Schafer said. "Taking ethanol out of the picture does not stop the rising cost of oil. It just leaves us paying more for gas." This fall, farmers should harvest the second biggest corn crop on record and the fourth largest soybean crop. Schafer said this should ease the pressure on food prices. When asked about the platform adopted by the Republican Party at its convention, which calls for an end to the mandated subsidies for ethanol, Schafer said he is not a mandate person. "The Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) is really a goal, not a target," Schafer said. Schafer said it is right to provide subsidies to emerging industries, but those subsidies would stay in play until the industry has matured. "We don't want to see the ethanol industry dependent on these subsidies," Schafer said. The development of cellulosic ethanol will help but it is still not commercially viable. Schafer said the U.S. Department of Agriculture has a role in generating research to advance the ability of different feedstocks to produce ethanol. Pilot plants are even using orange peels as a source for ethanol. "I believe that is America and we will see the advancement of cellulosic ethanol," Schafer said. Grant said he does not like to think of the issue as food or fuel, but as food and fuel and fiber. He said there is no reason we can't have all three. "This is not the time to cull out a biofuel, it is early days," Grant said. Grant said there is a need for more corn yield to meet the demand and the potential for more corn yield is very real. Biotechnology is the key to higher corn yields. Grant said yield is determined by the quality of the seed and biotechnology can protect seed quality. "Biotechnology is scale neutral unlike agriculture itself," Grant said. "The benefits are the same for all farmers. Seeds deliver scale neutrality whether you are a one-acre smallholder in Uganda or a 1,000-acre grower in the Mississippi Delta." Monsanto is committed to doubling yields in the key crops of corn, soybeans, and cotton by 2030. Grant said they would like to accomplish this while consuming a third less resources. Drought tolerant corn would be a big part of increasing yields for all farmers. The squeeze we have seen recently in energy and food is the kind of squeeze we will see with water in the future. Grant said in about five years Monsanto would be ready to launch the first generation of new seeds that demonstrate drought tolerance. "After three years of intense field trials, we are now seeing these seeds yielding 8 to 10 percent more in dry land corn environments," Grant said. "After we launch in corn, I anticipate that the next crop will be cotton." The next advancement will be hybrids that optimize nitrogen fertilizer. Grant said they would launch new technology in Africa at the same time they are launched in the U.S. The demand curve for agricultural production continues to expand. Grant estimates that in the next 40 years we will need to produce as much food as we did on this planet in the last 10,000 years. "I don't worry about whether or not we will be able to double our production, I worry that it will be enough," Grant said. Doug Rich can be reached by phone at 785-749-5304 or by e-mail at richhpj@aol.com. 9/29/08 Date: 9/25/08 Advertisement
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