Technology can make water go further

Drought-tolerant corn becoming reality
31.aug.08
The Grand Island Independent, Via Agnet
Robert Pore

In this item way out in GRAND ISLAND Nebraska, there is the news that at Husker Harvest Days near Grand Island Sept. 9-11, Monsanto will have a test plot that's one-third of an acre highlighting drought-tolerant corn, Roundup Ready 2 Yield™ and several other technologies that are important to growers in the western Corn Belt.
"Growers in the western Corn Belt face a lot of challenges, and we're working on new technologies that are going to help address some of those," said Andrew Duff, Monsanto corn traits marketing manager and 2008 Husker Harvest Days co-lead. "There's a real opportunity out there to show growers what we're doing that's going to benefit them in the future."
Bob McCauley, Monsanto technology development manager in Nebraska, said the western Corn Belt receives less annual rainfall than the other states in the region.

"Also, our topsoil and subsoils tend to be more porous, so they're more coarse and have less water-holding capacity than the soils of Iowa and Illinois," McCauley said.
Because Nebraska has sufficient water supplies from aquifers, rivers and lakes, farmers implement irrigation practices to use water from these locations for their crops, he said. Not only is this expensive, but McCauley said it is also putting stress on the environment.