2021 Spring Farm

Page 36 2021 Logan County Farm Outlook LINCOLN DAILY NEWS March 18, 2021 the gap in food production in the next thirty years by themselves. The necessary conditions to produce greater yields might come from a very controversial source: increased CO2 (carbon dioxide) in the atmosphere. Yes, as we all have heard, carbon dioxide is at the heart of another controversial subject: climate change. This article is not written from the point of view of confirming or denying the theory of climate change, but instead to say that CO2 in the atmosphere may have both beneficial and detrimental effects. While the claims of climatologists may or may not be true regarding catastrophic climate change, the population explosion on the earth is on a definite course: more people, and they all have to eat. The current global average level of CO2 in the atmosphere is around 400 ppm (parts per million), up from around 280 ppm at the start of the industrial revolution. Some agronomists and environmentalists say that our current increased crop yields are due to both advances in hybrids and GMOs and from this current high level of CO2 in the atmosphere. Plant function is a simple process called photosynthesis. The plant takes in water and micronutrients, then takes in CO2, and from these simple ingredients create food (sugar). The plant itself is mostly made of carbon, and the seed, like a kernel of corn, is about 45% carbon. The availability of atmospheric CO2 regulates the growth of the plant and the production of its seed. At 250 ppm atmospheric CO2, photosynthesis stops; at 180 ppm, you have total plant death. Former Greenpeace International President Dr. Patrick Moore says that the industrial revolution came around at exactly the right time in history to save the planet’s plant population from extinction because of plunging levels of atmospheric CO2. If the plants die, he said, all life on the planet dies. U.S. Representative Lamar Smith, then Chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology made this claim in a July 24, 2017 op-ed published in the Daily Signal: “A higher concentration of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere would aid photosynthesis, which in turn contributes to increased plant growth. This correlates to a greater volume of food production and better quality food. Studies indicate that crops would utilize water more efficiently, requiring less water. And colder areas along the farm belt will experience longer growing seasons.” A higher concentration of atmospheric CO2 allows a plant to function more efficiently. The plant can take in the CO2 through the stomates (microscopic pores with doors that open and close on the underside of leaves) faster at higher levels and close their doors sooner, allowing less water to be given off to the atmosphere through transpiration. This means less water is used for crop production. The plant grows faster, yields grain at a higher level, and more people can be fed. Continue 4