Last weekend my wife and I ventured over an hour west to visit some prairie dog towns. When we arrived at the first town it was much smaller than I’d figured it would be, even after looking at satellite images. The prairie dogs trilled and barked, and none let us closer than 50 feet before diving into the ground. But what surprised me about this maybe 20 acre or less area was what surrounded it like a curtain or cinder block wall–corn. And not good looking corn. All along our drive there and back hardly a center pivot was idle. Water was spraying everywhere. Bridges we crossed showed severely depleted creeks and rivers. Indeed, the North Platte is completely dry. Lincoln alone uses 75 million gallons of water a day right now, and the mayor is threatening watering bans if we don’t get to 60 million. SIXTY MILLION. Tens of millions going just to gardens and lawns that have no chance anyway in a nearly two month rainless drought—god knows how much above these numbers is cropland water use. Let’s not mention the 12 billion gallons we pump out of the Ogallala aquifer daily, or 200′ in the last century (some project it will be empty in 10-20 years).
Not many ears were fully formed.
Standing there in the country the diminished population of prairie dogs no longer sickened me—it was the fields. The ethanol plant. The new grain elevators going up and railroad tracks everywhere. Since 1920, the heartland has always produced more than we need, hence government subsidies that can account for 50% of a farmer’s income. To produce one calorie of grain requires 10 calories of hydrocarbons.
All that genetically modified corn so intensively managed, a monoculture that is dependent on us to exist, which has made it so that only, maybe, 20% of the plains could ever restore itself with native flora if we vanished this second. All that corn (70% of it) is fattening cattle that pour methane into the air, foul surface water, and that give us nice marbleized beef leading to heart disease. Grass fed beef is leaner and has wonderful omega 3 fatty acids—and tastes much more buttery, as a local organic / grass fed burger joint has shown me. Right now, feeding cattle wastes 90% of plant energy since only 10% can be retained by a cow.
Edward Abbey suggests “…that we open a hunting season on cattle. I realize that beef cattle will not make sporting prey at first. Like all domesticated animals (including most humans), beef cattle are slow, stupid, and awkward. But the breed will improve if hunted regularly. And, as the number of cattle decrease, other and far more useful, beautiful and interesting animals will return….”
If cattle ate more efficient grass we could use the surplus grain to literally feed the rest of the world. 10 acres of grassland in fertile “tall grass” Iowa could feed as many cows as 100 acres in short grass rangeland out west. The new central Plains grasslands would provide economic and environmental stability for a region that is young at only 12,000 years—and so the native plants we know well are the ones that are the most easily adapted and strong and could be again.
The Land Institute in Salina, Kansas is working on creating perennial grains that replicate natural ecosystems—a tall order when the answer is already at hand. And if even ecologists believe in technology saving us from our own hubris, what hope is there? The technology of the planet works, it’s free, and some of it is still here. There are 140 native species of grass alone in the great plains (with 60-80% of each plant underground), and I have maybe five species in my garden. With all the wildlife I see in just 1500 feet, imagine the diversity, the power, the health—the efficient transfer of energy from sun to plant to animal to human—that would occur across a county, let alone a state. If we change light bulbs, if we shower faster, if we build more efficient cars (or pretend to), then we need to grow our food and gardens smarter. This means less monoculture and less lawn. In the end there’s no amount of adapting we can force on nature that will work—we must adapt, aka simply accept who we are. We dump so much energy into manipulating nature; all that effort could be redirected and we’d be a more peaceful and balanced culture. Maybe. In the last three years crop insurance programs, and now a proposed bottom crop price, have taken away the risk and encouraged farmers to plow up another 23 million acres of shrubland, wetland, and prairie margins (link here for map). There’s really not anything left, is there?
Barking squirrel.
Standing at the edge between a prairie dog town and a field of corn, I feel the duality of my life. How I live it—all the corn in my diet—and how I preach it here in my words and backyard. I am two faced in the least and I know it. I’m riddled with guilt. But I’m also riddled with hope. Not because I think we will change, but because prairie dogs and milkweed and winecup still exist on a few acres amongst a horizon of center pivots watering corn.
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About Benjamin Vogt
I grew up in Northern IN surrounded by corn fields which were a staple. I have stopped eating most corn as we have no idea if it is GMO. I prefer grass fed beef as well and am working on doing many of the things you suggest…it is not easy but I am not as optimistic some days that our selfish ways will change since the bigger picture is not what people feel most important. But I will keep making changes and believe we do have a chance to turn it around.
I saw my first prairie dogs in the Sonoran desert in AZ…they are cute.
Donna@Gardens Eye View recently posted..Gardens Eye Journal-August 2012
Oh Donna, you are more positive than me. Teach me? I’m thankful I also don’t much care for corn anyway. I just had some watermelon I grew for my wife and I still think that’s gross, too. Prairie dogs are a BLAST to watch and listen to. Amazingly social creatures–just like us!
Benjamin Vogt recently posted..Mow Better Blues
Great post, Benjamin. I’ve worked hard to remove the corn from my diet by eschewing processed foods as much as I can, and only eating corn from sources I know (my corn tortilla chips come from a Denver company that uses organic, non-GMO corn, for instance). I hardly ever eat beef, and never any meat from factory farms or feedlots. I didn’t get to a diet pretty much free of industrially grown corn all at once, and like you I was motivated by envisioning what we’ve lost by trading away a diverse and rich prairie ecosystem for an environmentally expensive corn and soybean monoculture. For me, the eye-opener was getting to help burn a prairie remnant in Iowa more than two decades ago for the Nature Conservancy. Just standing in that bit of grassland, maybe 30 acres, surrounded by cornfields, and hearing the wind shushing through the grasses with the rhythmic sound of ocean waves gave me goosebumps. In that moment, I vowed to do what I could to support native prairie rather than industrial agriculture. The decision, and the choices it’s engendered, still feel good.
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I may be following in your corn-free footsteps at some point, but I know it’ll be hard. Your story of being in a prairie hits home. When my wife and I were driving around in the country something felt so right, it really excited us. We’ve been thinking hard about taking a risk with getting an acreage of some sort–but where? How? I want to do something good for some land somewhere! Even the smallest light pierces the darkest dark with incredible power.
Benjamin Vogt recently posted..Mow Better Blues
Might not be as hard as you think, Benjamin. One step at a time makes it a lot easier. If you decide to move in that direction you’ll feel great about making that choice, your health will improve, and your food will taste a lot better. It does take more effort and time, and costs a little more, but it quickly becomes habit and a normal part of a person’s lifestyle, and it’s so very worth it. As for the cost, well, you’ve already done a great job talking about the cost of the alternative.
Linda recently posted..Wildflower Wednesday
Excellent food for thought, Benjamin (hopefully not genetically modified). I think people in general are starting to come around. It’s the industries that aren’t following suit. too much greed!
know that some of us are showering less (oops, j/k) ummm shorter. Once summer humidity is over I’ll be back to using the solar dryer full time….now I just hang the dog blankets and such out which if they stay a little damp isn’t a problem. Mold on my shirts is another story.
Oh, and please don’t shoot elsie (ok…I know she is a dairy type), but those eyes….how could anyone?.
I should check and see if any local ranches sell grass fed beef. I live in the heart of “beef, it’s what’s for dinner” in the Florida area. Oh, and I have no guilt….corn just plain doesn’t agree with me any longer so it’s out of my diet (oh wait….corn flakes)….here we go. Guilt!
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We won’t take down Elsie, promise. I keep seeing this small hand crank washer / dryer combo that looks neat–does like 15 shirts at a time and takes 10 minutes or something. Curious if it works, because I do 15 shirts now in the washer and it takes like 40 minutes. And that’s on low water, and cold water.
Benjamin Vogt recently posted..I’ve Wrastled Me a Monarch Caterpillar
Here in Wichita, we’re lucky enough to have a local rancher who raises totally grass fed beef on native prairie. He sells at the farmers’ market, as well as at some of the local health food stores. The vast majority of the beef we eat is from him. We’ve also found a local farmer producing pork and eggs, so most of our animal protein is locally sourced now.
I haven’t worked to decrease corn in my diet, but you are exactly right – both Greg and I should be doing that as much as absolutely possible.
I find that, especially with the heat and drought of the last 2 summers, I am carefully considering every errand into Wichita and trying to see if I can avoid it. Our cars both get about 30 mpg; we’ve thought about buying more efficient vehicles, but until recently there weren’t many. Then we start to think about the waste of buying a new vehicle instead of just continuing to use the ones we have, both of which are still going strong. I will say that, recently, we’ve begun looking pretty seriously at getting a Volt – while the tax credit is still on. I don’t know, though – that’s a LOT of money.
I love working on our little patch of property, doing our best to restore the grasslands and to manage the landscape around the house with as little energy input and as much native ecosystem friendliness as possible.
Some days I feel hopeful. Other days I feel so pessimistic it’s hard to get motivated. I try to make sure that the former outnumber the latter…. Keep up the good work – and hope your classes go well fall!
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