By Mark Moran
Heat-resistant plants could help farmers respond to abnormally dry conditions spreading across Iowa and the wider region.
Sorghum, a crop used in other countries and in the United States during past droughts, has several benefits but some farmers remain concerned about its lower yields compared with corn.
The U.S. Drought Monitor’s interactive map shows large sections of Iowa threatened by low rainfall and extremely dry conditions.
Andrea Eveland, principal investigator at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, said sorghum is closely related to corn genetically and could help reduce the threat from drought if farmers decide to plant it instead of corn.
“It is very drought resilient,” Eveland explained. “It's also very heat resilient and doesn't need as much input such as nitrogen-based fertilizers, things like that.”
Sorghum yields are typically 10% to 20% lower than corn yields when precipitation is average but when fields receive 21 inches of moisture or less per year, sorghum actually outyields corn.
Farmers try to predict how much rain they will get in a year before deciding what to plant. Eveland acknowledged sorghum faces an uphill challenge because farmers tend to forget about the possibility of drought when rainfall patterns are normal.
She added the United States is not immune to future food insecurity if extreme weather events persist.
“Even 50 years, 80 years from now, I mean, it's going to look a lot different,” Eveland projected. “If we don't figure out now how to breed more sustainable crops that can thrive with much less water, much less inputs, then we're going to be in a bad situation.”
Eveland stressed scientists, researchers, climate experts and farmers will need to cooperate if conditions become dire. She underscored balancing wet years with dry seasons and extreme drought will become more important over time.
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