In a story that recently appeared in Farm and Ranch Guide, Doug Berven, director of corporate affairs for POET LLC, said agriculture could have a bright future when it comes to ethanol production.

“We had a 151 bushels per acre average in 2007 and we are up 15 bushels from that already in 2009,” he said. “By 2018 they are predicting an average yield of 218 bushels per acre, and in 2030, 300 bushels per acre.

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–>“That gives us total corn production, from the same amount of land, of 13 billion bushels in 2007, 18 billion in 2018 and 26 billion in 2030,” he continued. “Allocating a 40 percent increase in the use of corn during that time for everything except ethanol, leaves 428 percent more corn for ethanol production, or enough for 24 billion gallons in 2018 and almost 50 billion gallons in 2030.”

And science is finding new ways to increase corn production that will make those predictions come true.

But despite the ever increasing yields from corn production, bad weather can easily turn surplus into shortage. The following story talks about the impact of weather on the corn industry. This is a very real concern, especially when you consider what impact global warming will have on crop production.

RKP

Grocery shoppers face hefty price increases if bad weather withers a U.S. corn crop that is now tethered to grain-intensive renewable fuel mandates, a new University of Illinois study warns.

A corn shortage, coupled with surging demand to meet government-ordered ethanol standards, could push cash prices to $7 a bushel, the study found, squeezing livestock producers and driving up prices for meat, milk, eggs and other farm staples.

Economists Darrel Good and Scott Irwin say federal policymakers need to forge solutions now to cushion the blow of a shortfall that history shows is a matter of when and how severe, not if.

“We believe everybody will be better off with a reasoned, well thought-out response if a crisis would occur rather than rushed, short-term solutions as the crop is burning up,” Irwin said.

Irwin and Good, professors of agricultural and consumer economics, analyzed weather and harvest records in key corn-growing states, projecting U.S. yields based on the five best and worst growing seasons since 1960.

The study found that average yields could range from 135.5 bushels per acre with bad weather to 172.5 bushels per acre in peak growing conditions, compared with a trend yield of 156.7 bushels per acre forecast for 2010. If weather turns sour in 2010, for example, the nation would harvest about 10.9 billion bushels of corn, down more than 2.1 billion bushels from last year’s record crop, according to the study.