Pirate's Cove

Regular corn, which has been around for thousands and thousands of year, which has been modified many times by Mankind, is doomed, so, we need “short corn”

‘Short corn’ could replace the towering cornfields steamrolled by a changing climate

Taking a late-summer country drive in the Midwest means venturing into the corn zone, snaking between 12-foot-tall green, leafy walls that seem to block out nearly everything other than the sun and an occasional water tower.

The skyscraper-like corn is a part of rural America as much as cavernous red barns and placid cows.

But soon, that towering corn might become a miniature of its former self, replaced by stalks only half as tall as the green giants that have dominated fields for so long.

“As you drive across the Midwest, maybe in the next seven, eight, 10 years, you’re going to see a lot of this out there,” said Cameron Sorgenfrey, an eastern Iowa farmer who has been growing newly developed short corn for several years, sometimes prompting puzzled looks from neighboring farmers. “I think this is going to change agriculture in the Midwest.”

The short corn developed by Bayer Crop Science is being tested on about 30,000 acres (12,141 hectares) in the Midwest with the promise of offering farmers a variety that can withstand powerful windstorms that could become more frequent due to climate change. The corn’s smaller stature and sturdier base enable it to withstand winds of up to 50 mph — researchers hover over fields with a helicopter to see how the plants handle the wind.

Sounds more like Bayer and some farmers are pushing this by using the doomsayers to make some cash. This is all theoretical, not something that is actually happening. It’s looking into a crystal ball. Seriously, that area has long had to deal with harsh storms and wind, but, you know, because you drive a fossil fueled vehicle doom is coming.

BTW, who gets fired and their reputation ruined when the windy doom doesn’t happen?