U.S. Corn Belt Will Be Unsuitable For Growing The Crop By 2100

A new study has shown that the US Corn Belt could be unsuitable for growing corn by the end of the century, Tim Gallagher reported for Euronews.

Photo Insert: A cornfield in the US Midwest

The region in the Midwest of the country made up of states including Nebraska, Kansas, Indiana, and Iowa has been known for its corn harvests since the 1800s. However, due to climate change, the ideal conditions for growing corn may move further north in the future.

"Climate change is happening, and it will continue to shift US cultivation geographies strongly north," says lead author of the study, Emily Burchfield.

"It's not enough to simply depend on technological innovations to save the day. Now is the time to envision big shifts in what and how we grow our food to create more sustainable and resilient forms of agriculture."

Two-thirds of the US mainland is used for agriculture, with 80 percent of this land used to grow staple crops of corn, soy, wheat, hay, alfalfa, and cotton. Burchfield analyzed data on geography and human intervention.

She used her findings to project models for how cultivation would change low, moderate, and high-emission scenarios. What Burchfield found was that, even with moderate-emission scenarios, the ideal conditions for corn, soy, alfalfa, and wheat all shifted north.

Even as subsidies are available for corn growers and money is being invested in genetic engineering to mitigate risks, Burchfield highlighted the dangers of monocropping.

Less than one-tenth of corn grown in the US is directly consumed by humans, and this usually comes in the form of romanticized sweetcorn or flint corn, which is used to make popcorn.

The most common crop is dent corn which makes up the bulk of US exports - it is nearly one-third of the corn traded in the entire world.

A lot of corn is made into ethanol for biofuel, but a fair amount also finds its way into soft drinks, deodorants, salmon, cheese, and even toothpaste as well as feed for cows, chickens, and hogs.

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