DES MOINES The eyes of a hungry world will again be on Iowa this week as food experts gather for the Iowa Hunger Summit.

Although slowed by drought conditions this year, the long-term trend for U.S. crop and livestock production continues to grow and experts believe the genetics revolution will fuel record yields.

They also predict new technology and practices will spread to parts of the world that have barely scratched the surface of their food-growing potential.

We think there is a lot of head room still to go in terms of increasing yields in the major row crops, said David Fischhoff, Monsanto vice president for technology strategy and development.

Continued advancements in seed and plant genetics; soil, water and nutrient management; weed, disease and pest control; and precision equipment are driving increases in corn yields that have experts projecting an acre of fertile Iowa land could be producing 300 bushels of grain by 2030.

That would nearly double the top statewide corn average that Iowa farmers have been able to achieve.

It is expected soybean production would mirror that progress but at levels about a third of the per-acre output of corn plants.

Test plots in corn-growing competitions have produced yields into the 400-bushel-per acre range.

CRop production

Advances in farming practices quadrupled per-yield production in the last century, and Brent Wilson, manager of agronomical and technical services for DuPont Pioneer in Johnston, said if anything were probably pushing the accelerator faster now given the amount of financial resources, people and energy being deployed to increase productivity.

More here:
Genetics, other changes promise higher food production

Comments are closed.