ummm ... how much land are we paying farmers NOT to harvest????
I wonder if the impact on the fresh water supply isn't a much bigger issue. We are never going to grow enough corn in the US to replace our use of oil. For ethanol to be viable, it will need to be made from something that is a much more prolific grower/producer than corn. In either case, the volume of water requried is tremendous.
Precisely. The amount of unused arable land in the world continues to RISE not decline. (Of course that statistic was from a UN study, so maybe I should take it with a rock of salt!)
For the most part, the land which is not being farmed is less than satisfactory for good yields.
......ummm ... how much land are we paying farmers NOT to harvest????
Yup, there is plenty of land enrolled in government farm programs now...the farmers could plant fence row to fence row again..we are not going to starve. And neither are the animals.
Repeal the farm subsidies... we should never have a surplus again.