I hope DUers are paying attention to all the farm-food news

[SpiralHawk]

Because there is a lot of it, and it is all grim. 2009 is going to make 2008 look like the good old days, and I don't mean just the skyrocketing cost of food. There is much more to come, as republicon-minded speculators continue to screw not just the USA, but the planet.

Here's just one item from today (below). My 2 cents worth: do not panic. But do act. Now. Grow food - somehow, someway. Save seed. Support local farmers directly -- especially organic farmers who do not depend on petrochemical based fertilizers and pesticides, and who have not drunk the Genetically Mutant kool aid.

My counsel: act now. It is going to get a whole lot more, um, complicated...

---------

Corn Rises to Record, Soybeans Gain as Floods Hurt U.S. Crops

June 9 (Bloomberg) -- Corn rose to a record for a third straight session and soybeans surged as the worst flooding in 15 years drowns Midwest plants, increasing the chance that some U.S. fields will be abandoned.

Unusually heavy June rains left Midwest fields under a flood warning and more precipitation is expected this week, the National Weather Service said. Farms in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and Nebraska received as much as 12 inches (30 centimeters) of rain this month, pushing 30-day rainfall totals to more than four times the normal amount, the weather service said.

``Areas where the water has receded revealed a lot of dead corn and soybean plants, which are likely popping up all over the Midwest,'' said Jim Gerlach, president of A.C. Trading in Fowler, Indiana, after touring fields across the northern part of the state yesterday. ``It's becoming quite obvious that this year's crops are off to a horrible start now, rivaling 1993 when traders were also slow to react to massive flooding.''

Corn futures for July delivery rose 10.25 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $6.61 a bushel at 12:02 p.m. on the Chicago Board of Trade, after earlier touching a record $6.73. Most-active futures have jumped 73 percent in the past year on surging demand for feed and biofuels, which the government said will cut global inventories before the harvest to a 24-year low.

Soybean futures for July delivery rose 4.5 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $14.62 a bushel in Chicago, after touching $14.895, the highest in three months. Most-active futures have gained 78 percent in the past year, reaching a record $15.865 on March 3.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid=abU...

[melody]

1. Some of the most nutritive food is easy to grow also

Sprouts, potatoes (eat the peel), etc, etc.

[uppityperson]

7. Yup, we've got a bunch of cool weather crops in

what with it being a cool spring here in the pacific northwet. Mr.U.P. laughed at my plot of spuds, my cabbages and chard, but just wait. I also planted a bunch for my chickens. Finding greens I don't particularly like but that grow well for them.

[aquart]

2. And watch out for the salmonella on your tomatoes.

<http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/09/BAT7115G2I.DTL&type=health>

(Too hot to cut and paste, sorry.)

[SpiralHawk]

3. That shit don't much happen when carefully grown at home, or on clean farms

It is the consequence of vast industrial-chemical corporate mega-farms...

[tridim]

4. I got shorted two juicy tomato slices at Sonic today

But of course paid the same price.

Tomatoes are really my only excuse for eating fast food, now I don't see much of a point.

[Horse with no Name]

18. My daughter works at Sonic

Most of their customers understand and would rather eat it sans tomato than to die from eating it.

[Tatiana]

5. Good point. My local Paneras is no longer serving tomatoes until further notice. n/t

[kestrel91316]

6. Unless you have Salmonella yourself AND are shitting onto your tomatoes,

there's nothing to worry about from homegrown.

While you're at it, also grow every OTHER vegetable and fruit that you can in your climate and whatever space you have. NOW.

[kestrel91316]

8. Do your patriotic duty, DUers:

GROW YOUR OWN.

Find out what grows well in your climate, look at your available space, and get to planting. Put seedlings in the ground now, and don't forget to do a FALL GARDEN which you plant seeds for after the worst summer heat peaks.

I am deadly serious. Those of you who CAN do this, MUST do this, so there is enough commercial produce to go around that those who cannot grow their own can still afford to buy.

The wheels are coming off.

Oh, and don't forget to grow perennials as much as possible, like fruit trees and berries and asparagus and artichokes and Jerusalem artichokes - do the work and spend the money now and you will reap the rewards a hundredfold later. And grow calorie crops like potatoes and sweet potatoes and beets and even the lowly rutabaga and turnip, and learn how to store them.

The rainy day we were taught to save for has arrived.

[doodadem]

10. Will be picking my first green peas this week

The beans, squash, and tomatoes are blooming, so won't be long for them either. Already been eating lettuce, broccoli, leeks, etc. that planted late winter. Looks like I'm going to be getting a big bumper crop of peaches this year, almonds, and some apples.

I put in a whole new, bigger, vege garden this year, so now have 4 different beds going. I'm going to learn to can, as I've never had much luck with freezing stuff. I have a goodly variety of beans, peas, greens, melons, squash, and so forth that is up and doing well.

My family has always lived like this though--always alot of fresh veges on the table in summer, and canned for the winter. I am raising my first chickens, ducks, and geese this year, and looking forward to getting eggs in a couple months. Never knew poultry could be so fun! My husband and I really enjoying the entertainment aspect.

[Joanne98]

13. I'm eating my snow peas, lettuce and spinach right now...

YUM!!!!!!!!!

[kestrel91316]

14. I'm so jealous. I want a mini-farm before I die.......

Oh, would you please mail me your excess produce please? I can PM you with my mailing address. LOL

Boiling water bath canning is fun and easy. PRESSURE canning is more technically demanding and you must do it precisely, but there is nothing quite like home-canned green beans......I recommend you start with tomatoes as they are easy and only require a boiling water bath.

Get a copy of the Ball Blue Book (current edition) and follow directions exactly. That's how I taught myself to can.

[CoffeeCat]

9. I am seeing this first hand...

I'm in central Iowa and there are fields everywhere around me. Most of them are flooded.

There is standing water everywhere.

Our area has rec'd 10 inches of rain---so far in June!! Remember the Floods of '93 in Des Moines?
The lake levels at Saylorville Lake, near Des Moines are approaching the levels that were reached
in 1993--and the forecast says rain Wed-Sun--every day, for the rest of this week.

This stuff isn't being reported nationally, as much as it is locally--but this could really be
a horrendous disaster for the corn crop. The corn just starting growing. Most plants are a few inches
high, and the water is really inundating those fields.

The '93 flood was supposed to be a 500 year flood. The Saylorville lake has gone up 15 feet in the
past week. They predict waters will go over the emergency spillway tomorrow. The level is about 80 now
and the Army Corp of Engineers predicts levels at 85. That doesn't count the rain we might get this week.

At the peak of the 93 flood, the Saylorville lake level was at 93.

I hope I have my numbers right. It is clear though that this is a very serious situation. The OP is right.

[SpiralHawk]

11. Even if you live in the city, you can join a CSA and support a local farm

"Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) offers a way for every human being to be directly involved in the care and healing of the earth, while also ensuring a supply of clean, healthy food for their families and their neighbors."

(snip)

This link gives an intro to the subject, and then a list of key links...

http://www.chiron-communications.com/farms.html

[Joanne98]

12. I am. K&R

[Deb]

15. Farmers here have a saying,

Not enough rain can make you hungry, too much will kill you.

Thanks for sharing, I do hope people are paying attention.

[SpiralHawk]

16. morning kick - that all might have a chance to consider

Eom

[rucky]

17. Most of the corn and soy grown around here isn't for human consumption.

It's feed-grade Frankencorn.

another thing we can do is stop eating so much meat.

[SpiralHawk]

21. The feed corn goes to the cattle, and the human beings eat the cattle

So when the feed corn and soy fails, it does indeed impact the food chain that we all depend upon...

[Horse with no Name]

19. Great post.

It is encouraging in my neighborhood...all of my neighbors have gardens.
I am in the process of getting mine in.
At a local farm that sells their produce...I stopped in on Sunday and bought the stuff I needed.
She told me that they actually have had to add three garden spots to keep up with the demand because people cannot afford the store prices and they are afraid of the salmonella.

[SpiralHawk]

20. Todays NYT: Worries Mount as Farmers Push for Big Harvest

Worries Mount as Farmers Push for Big Harvest
Peter Newcomb for The New York Times

By DAVID STREITFELD and KEITH BRADSHER
Published: June 10, 2008

GRIFFIN, Ind. — In a year when global harvests need to be excellent to ease the threat of pervasive food shortages, evidence is mounting that they will be average at best. Some farmers are starting to fear disaster.

Peter Newcomb for The New York Times

Randy Kron, a farmer in Griffin, Ind., on land that was a cornfield, then a soybean field, but that is now flooded...

...At a moment when the country’s corn should be flourishing, one plant in 10 has not even emerged from the ground, the Agriculture Department said Monday. Because corn planted late is more sensitive to heat damage in high summer, every day’s delay practically guarantees a lower yield at harvest.

(snip)

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/10/business/10planting.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin