Hot Topic Thursday - Technology Increasing Our Yields

FACT: By the year 2050, it’s expected the global population will grow to 9 billion people. To feed them, farmers are faced with a huge task -- produce more food in the next few decades than they have in the past 10,000 years combined. (http://www.monsanto.com/americasfarmers/Pages/mobile-experience.aspx)

Wow!  That is a somewhat daunting and scary fact when you sit down and think about it.  And really how are farmers going to do that - the amount of land that we can use for farming isn't growing.

So how are we going to do just that - feed a hungry planet?  We will do it through new technologies from GPS to need seed traits that will allow us to produce more with less. And the truth is Iowa corn farmers have been doing that for a very long time.

In fact "Yields of 153 bushels per acre in 2010 were 24 bushels per acre  greater than those just eight years earlier. Researchers estimate yields may surpass an average of 210 bushels by 2020 and reach a  national average of 300 bushels by 2030. By sustainably producing more bushels per acre, farmers can develop new markets for corn – and replace their petroleum-based counterparts." (Corn Farmers Coalition).

Just think with even more improvements in technology what Iowa farmers will be able to do!