Basic HTML Version
Are We Bringing
A
Curse on
our Land?
1970 witnessed one
of
the most serious agricultura/ disasters
ever to hit the
U.
S. There was, indeed, a CURSE on the land
lt could have been avoided, but it threatens to happen again.
r
APPEARED
suddenly last May in
the panhandle of Florida. From
there it rode the wind - spreading
like a wild prairie fire over the American
South.
No sooner had it struck the South
than it went north, leapfrogging across
the eastern two thirds of the coro belt.
It
attacked the leaves, ate away at the
stalk, ear, and every part of the plant
above ground. At times, it wiped out
entire corofields in ten short days.
lt was the most serious
corn
blight
ever to bit the U. S.
Secondary diseases have followed in
the blight's wake.
EFFECTS Now Being Felt
The blight considerably reduced the
amount of available corn. lt is estimated
that by October 1971 the coro supply
will be about half that of the "famine
scare" years of 1965 and 1966. Perhaps
even more alarming is the resultant
poor quality of the harvested crop. A
substantial quantity of coro may spoil
in the bin or crib before it can be used.
The blighted remnant is lightweight
with a high moisture content, making it
very susceptible to rots and molds.
Even the nutritional value is involved.
Sorne estímate the decrease in nutritional
value to be as high as 40 percent.
by
Dale
l.
Schurter
The sharp decline in volume, storage
ability and food value means an unde–
niable nutritional drop in the coro
products for your table - and at higher
costs.
The price of this prominent com–
modity -
by far America's most
important feed grain - has increased
dramatically.
It
has already doubled on
sorne markets, forcing production costs
above income levels for sorne cattle, hog
and poultry producers. An ensuing rise
in the production cost of meat, milk and
eggs has occurred. An additional rise is
also reflected in the cost of many staple
foods in your supermarket.
Agriculture forecasters predict that
within a few months a feed shortage,
largely due to the corn blight, will force
livestock sales and temporarily flood the
markets. Prices will be reduced for a
short time. But after that, an abrupt rise
in meat prices can be expected. The con–
sumer probably will not benefit from
the "price-drop." The resulting pro1it
will likely be absorbed by the middle
men of the meat industry. But when the
market prices of livestock again increase,
the consumer will inescapably feel it.
What About the NEXT Crop?
Experts are saying the blight will
probably be big news again in 1971.
Dr. G. Wendell Horne, Extension Plant
Pathologist at Texas A
&
M University
says, "There is a good chance of having
more serious infestations during 1971"
(Texas A
&
M News Release, Nov. 27,
1970).
lowa and Illinois extension service
advisers report the fungus spores of the
blight can survive through the winter in
field and fence rows. They can tolerate
temperatures of
20
degrees below zero
and still germinate when the weather
warms up. Farmers are attempting to
destroy the spores by the use of poisons,
but an effective fungicide has not yet
been found. Already, a new infestation
of the blight is developing in winter
plantings in Florida.
The disease affects only certain
hybrid strains of coro.
It
has been
reported that it does not affect open–
pollinated varieties grown on soil prop–
erly fertilized with organic ferti1izers.
(Hybrids are offspring produced by
crossing - interbreeding - of animals
or plants of different subraces, varieties
or species.)
Sorne hybrid lines are tolerant to the
blight. But an alarming 90 percent of
hybrid seed corn used in the United
States is apparently susceptible.
"Hybrids susceptible to the blight
will have to be grown again in 1971,"