Editor:
Your columnist, Mr. Al Clarke, in his thoughtful article in The Creemore Echo of Jan. 8 pointed out one of the practical problems of organic food production; that problem, simply stated, is that the world would not be able to support its 7 billion current inhabitants. Mr. Clarke estimated that some 3 billion-plus people would have to “get off!”
The trend of corn yields over my lifetime may shed light on the issue. When I was a teenager and working on a local dairy farm near the small town where I grew up, south of Hamilton, we grew 10-15 acres of corn each year. Weed control required “scuffling” by straddling rows with a small tractor and cultivator. No farmer that I knew grew more than 20 acres of corn because of the problem of weed control. Yields of corn at that time, in the 1960s in southern Ontario averaged 70 bushels per acre.
According to the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food, corn yields in Ontario in 2014 were 160.9 bushels per acre. Weed control, better seed varieties and fertilizer have all been factors in this dramatic yield improvement. Productivity gains like this in corn, and in many other crops, has allowed the world population to grow and become more prosperous.
We are fortunate in Creemore to have access to fine, locally produced and healthy foods. Mr. Clarke’s suggestion to focus on buying locally and checking the source of our food is sensible advice for all of us.
Tony Arrell,
Mulmur.