As we are coming off another year of drought in Iowa, I find it interesting to think about water as much as I have in the past day or two. It’s an interesting situation. I recently saw a TikTok video that featured Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson talking about the desalinization of the oceans for drinking water. He said that right now we have the technology, but it’s the cost that prohibits it. The sarcastic sentence was, “it’s only money.” However, someday that will not be the case, and wars will likely be fought over who has control of water supplies.
I liken that back to something I heard my uncle say. He said eventually people will pay money to have water. I couldn’t fathom that. This was at a time when bottled water wasn’t being marketed very much, if at all. The only bottled water you would see was for the “water cooler”. If I wanted a drink, I could go to any one of three buildings on our farm that had access to our well and get a drink. I would never think about paying to buy water in bottles.
This change is happening in the span of just 40 years. 40 years on this planet, is like trying to find a pimple on a flea. There’s no significance to that short amount of time. Yet, in that time, humans have found more ways to use – and let’s just be frank about it – waste our supply of water and are doing so at an alarming rate. Agriculture is not innocent of blame in this situation by any means. We are also not the worst culprit, but we seem to be an easy target, because we are a direct user of water in its natural form, right from the tap of Mother Nature.
Brian Richter is the President of Sustainable Waters. During a recent appearance at the Professional Dairy Producers Dairy Insight Summit, he talked about the impact water shortages will have on agriculture.
This is one area in which the U.S. is fine on its own island of the world. We are seeing the impacts here as well. Irrigation is the main culprit we have.
This is going to cause more inflation of food and water prices around the globe. If we don’t get water into the dry parts of the United States soon, it will only happen faster.
Richter says there are short-term solutions available to farmers now. However, they are drastic. But they have the ability to stem the tide.
The problem is, is that it is not a long-term solution. That is something we need to find and soon.
While I remember that instance of my uncle speaking of water in my youth, I also remember that our family farm was much more diverse in its production of crops. We didn’t just grow corn & soybeans. We also grew oats, alfalfa, and peas. I remember more sweet corn and other crops that were in the fields around my home. Now, when I return it is just corn and beans as far as the eye can see. I am by no means disparaging the growth of these crops. They are a lucrative crop and are in demand. But the world also needs wheat, oats, barley, sorghum, vegetables, fruit, water, soil, and air to survive as well.
It might be time to think about how to rotate other crops, or even cover crops into your operation. Nobody has once said that you shouldn’t produce corn and beans at all. The thinking is moving towards the re-diversification of our crops. All of them put back something that another crop needs to survive, natural nutrients and fertilizers.
I am also, by no means, trying to push an environmental agenda here. I am saying that we used to do things an old-fashioned way, and the outlook was much better in those times. It wasn’t that long ago. I have talked with experts in agriculture many times about the fact that the old ideas are not bad, they just can be done better with the new technology, and it doesn’t have to be a burden on the operation. Yes, rotating two cash crops is easy, and it’s comfortable. However, the best results in human history come out of getting out of your comfort zone. Look for little ways your operation can benefit from small changes. Nobody has ever said that you have to commit to doing every change all at once.
The situation we find ourselves in is dire, but it is not impossible. Agriculture has a responsibility to feed the world. We also have a responsibility to help protect the Earth that provides the bounty to us. We talk at length about keeping the farm viable and passing it to the next generation. This isn’t just an economic endeavor. All the money in the world means nothing if you don’t have the soil quality and the conditions you need to produce those crops. The Earth provides us with so much to sustain our lives. All it ever asks is that we put back what we have borrowed.
I’m sorry. i didn’t mean to preach.
What will water shortages mean for the future? – Iowa Agribusiness Network
