Since I used mcfarm's brain watching CNN as a joke, let's make it up to him by providing a metmike mystery question right up his alley.....................even though he's not quite old enough to remember what it was like 100 years ago (-:
This could even be a Trading Forum post!
The average National trend corn yield in 2018 is almost 170 bushels per acre!
If mcfarm gets 3 inches of rain next week, maybe his corn will start heading back in that direction after getting planted early this year but then having no rain and in trouble if rains don't come soon.
In 1918, the world was much different, especially the methods that we used to grow crops. Of all the crops grown on the planet, corn has seen the biggest increase in yields......by a wide margin over anything else.
What might you guess the corn yield was back then?
47 ?... grandpa silverspiker would know...however...
https://ahundredyearsago.com/2011/10/14/us-crop-yields-and-production-1911-and-2011/
Crop Yields
Crop yields increased significantly for all the major cops between 1911 and 2011.
So what the heck happened to corn yields suddenly around 1950? They have more than quadrupled since then! Corn yields in the last 100 years are 7 times higher!!!
Seed genetics? Yes, that's helped.
Better farming technologies/equipment? That's helped
Atmospheric fertilization from increasing beneficial CO2? Yes, that's helped around 25%.
Climate change? Yes, that's helped..........only 1 widespread severe Cornbelt drought since 1988(in 2012). A record 24 years in between.
But those factors have also helped all other crops. Corn has 1 big element that is responsible for more than doubling its yields by itself. Without it, yields would still be under 100 bushels/acre.
I'll leave that for Sunday and make corn yields our weekend metmike mystery topic.............even though you all know the answer already.
Sorry for not having this on Sunday. Was busy monitoring storms in IL and IN that brought a ton of rain to PLL and mcfarm and forgot about it.
Let's start by showing a chart of corn yields going back to the Civil War....al most 160 years ago.
Holy Cow!! After 80 years without much change, corn yields exploded to being 7 times higher than they were during the following 80 years.
The graph below shows the total amount globally of different fertilizers but for corn........it's all about nitrogen!
Corn requires numerous other nutrients but its the nitrogen(anhydrous ammonia) that really gives it the huge growth.
Even CNN knows what anhydrous ammonia is (-:
https://www.cnn.com/2013/04/17/us/anhydrous-ammonia-dangers/index.html
around the 50's and early 60's farmers started using various forms of nitrogen instead of cow manure and yields jumped straight up...we first used NH3 {anhydrous ammonia ]as a nitrogen source in 1963. Before that just dry forms
Thanks mcfarm,
Graph below is nitrogen sold
