How agriculture works thread

[ArlyA]

@ArlyA

How many hours a day could a person spend on a tractor daily to work non stop all year ?

8760? I'm not really sure what your question is. If anyone elase knows, please post it.

 

[Torvy]

I was just reading this article about pork... California pig rules could cause bacon to disappear

This is the biggest reason I raise a couple of pigs every year.

I read this elsewhere. It could lead to an increase in local/regional processing. Covid started that a bit as the big boys were shutting down.

Could have a shot at suing CA because they have no authority over interstate commerce. Their law could be made to apply only to CA producers. It really depends on how the Justices feel about it.

 

[Jstpssng]

I read this elsewhere. It could lead to an increase in local/regional processing. Covid started that a bit as the big boys were shutting down.

Could have a shot at suing CA because they have no authority over interstate commerce. Their law could be made to apply only to CA producers. It really depends on how the Justices feel about it.

California tends to set the trends which the rest of the nation follows though. We can blame it on this, that, or whatever; yet at the end of the say they have a lot of people, a lot of money, and a lot of weight to pull.

 

[Torvy]

That's why I prefer court action to stop it. California throwing their weight around is in conflict with the Constitution and if it were a big business doing the same thing, people would be angry.

But, the faster, more likely approach would be an expanding of local processors. That will have the side benefit of letting Californians pay for the laws they pass without inflicting them on the other states.

 

[cqaigy2]

That's why I prefer court action to stop it. California throwing their weight around is in conflict with the Constitution and if it were a big business doing the same thing, people would be angry.

But, the faster, more likely approach would be an expanding of local processors. That will have the side benefit of letting Californians pay for the laws they pass without inflicting them on the other states.

Not really a Constitution issue, it's because Cali if a huge market, so it turns into a money issue. Companies are in business to make money.

 

[ArlyA]

I was hoping to talk about "how our foods come to us", aside of the politics guys.

 

[sixdogs]

Lots of people don't know this but each strand of the silk on corn connects to an individual kernel on the ear of corn. And corn is wind pollinated so if low wind or planted in a protected area that blocks the wind, pollination suffers and you wind up with one of those ears with disjointed, odd looking or missing rows of kernels.

 

[jjp8182]

Lots of people don't know this but each strand of the silk on corn connects to an individual kernel on the ear of corn. And corn is wind pollinated so if low wind or planted in a protected area that blocks the wind, pollination suffers and you wind up with one of those ears with disjointed, odd looking or missing rows of kernels.

That can also happen when planted in insufficient densities too - or overcome (to some degree) with higher planting densities (if the conditions permit).

Just as an example: I planted the minimum recommended 4 rows in my garden last year with a ~28 inch row spacing and ended up quite a few cobs that were missing a great many kernels. This year I planted 6 rows that were spaced about 14 inches apart (w/ plant spacing of ~6 inches) and had very few cobs with missing kernels (mostly along the edges/corners of the planting block).

Think I may have ended up with more than double the amount of corn from last year to this year. Of course on the other hand this year I also ran across a few ears of sweet corn that that were extremely wet and almost smelled like they had started to ferment on the stalk.

The year to year difference really illustrated to me why so many of the farmers in northern Alabama use such tight row & plant spacing for corn in their fields (compared to other parts of the country). Haven't gone out to a field and measured with a tape measure, but row spacing in many corn fields around here appears to be 14 inches to 12 inches (or less), and plant spacing is probably 6 inches (or less). The first time I really noticed it, it was a bit of surprise to see that plant spacing compared to the "standard" 28 inch field row spacing I got used to seeing while growing up in the Corn Belt.

Of course that in turn starts to highlight just how much agricultural practices can vary from place to place for a single crop type (and still be correct/appropriate for the different places).

 

[Torvy]

I was hoping to talk about "how our foods come to us", aside of the politics guys.

I hear you and respect your position. As an economist, I would say they are intertwined. Your food is an economic commodity and where economics exist, politics will soon follow. I will try to sidestep anything that may go further down that path.

 

[Jstpssng]

I've always planted two rows of corn without problem... until last year. Most of my ears looked like a 6 year old who'd been in a bar fight... and lost.
This year I'm learning about potatoes. For the last several years they have started out good, then about the time they should be blossoming the leaves start turning brown instead. I always get small potatoes and have attributed it to poor soil. Trying various locations have never helped.
Blight comes on suddenly and the plants quickly turn black and die, right? No, after reading it appears that I may have early blight vs late... and it's been here so long now that there's no sense trying to eradicate it.
My cole products are doing great though, they really like the rain and cool weather we're experiencing on this side of the conitinent.