4 ms·

Cash crops use something known as hybrid vigor (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heterosis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heterosis) which breeds together two disti

Cash crops use something known as hybrid vigor (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heterosis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heterosis) which breeds together two distinct, albeit mediocre, blends into a single offspring that is sort of like a super plant. The catch though is that it only works for a single generation, and if you were to replant the crop's offspring you would end up with a highly undesirable crop. For this reason, almost no farmers replant using their harvest. This pre-dates the use of GMO seeds. Every summer in the midwest you get armies of workers who do something called 'detasseling' where you walk through the seed fields and rip off the male genetalia of one of the two breeds, which forces the seeds to be pollinated in a specific way. The result is the seeds that are used to plant next years crop. source: I grew up on a corn farm.

vectorEQ 7y ago
is this for all farms or just very large ones? i can imagine small time farmers perhaps not having such super seeds / plants?
- stevehawk 7y ago
  It's pretty much all farms in the US, since most farms in the US are hard corn or soy farms. It's large and small. Bank owned and family owned. Everyone buys their seed every year. It's not some conspiracy, it's just better business for the farmer.
  - kls 7y ago
    Heirloom and organic farmers tend to reseed from heritage crops. I will give you they are a small subset of farming but the cross germination is having an effect on them.
- philipov 7y ago
  The case of hybrid vigor I'm familiar with is from camels during the middle ages. One hump camels are adapted to hot desert climates, while two hump camels are adapted to cold steppe climates. This created a divide between central asia and the middle east where you would have to switch camels as you traveled. There were people who learned to crossbread the camels to create a hybrid that was stronger than either and could survive in both climates, and they began to dominate trade routes in the area. The catch was that the hybrid vigor only lasted a single generation, and if you tried to breed them again you'd get runts.
  - tempguy9999 7y ago
    Aside: I grew normal and F1 hybrid courgettes (american = zucchini) as a kid and can confirm the hybrids were proper little triffids compared to the pure-strain plants. Regarding the camels, can you dig up a link, am curious. Thanks.
    - philipov 7y ago
      I learned about hybrid camels from the work of Dr. Richard Bulliet, particularly this lecture: https://youtu.be/ublh9JkbeuM?t=2350 https://youtu.be/ublh9JkbeuM?t=2350 I linked to the start of the section where he begins discussing the migration of the Turks into Iran (39:10). Discussion about hybrid camels is from around 45:26 onwards. Amazon link to his book: Cotton, Climate, Camels. https://www.amazon.com/Cotton-Climate-Camels-Early-Islamic-dp-0231148372/dp/0231148372/ref=mt_paperback https://www.amazon.com/Cotton-Climate-Camels-Early-Islamic-d... Here is the entire playlist of his 46 lectures on World History, of which the first link is lecture 13. His lectures are not just him retelling the material in the textbook, but rather gives criticism about how the textbook was constructed (He is the lead editor), and stories from his own research: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXxM47ZxXvkaODXkQBO5RrUJQh5mA0N6l https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXxM47ZxXvkaODXkQBO5R...
      - tempguy9999 7y ago
        Thanks, will follow up.
- mlrtime 7y ago
  Smaller farmers have consultants that come out and help plan for seed/herbicide/pesticide. Farming is very complicated now and many farmers just run the equipment.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
habnds 7y ago
> The Bowman case has come about after the 75-year-old farmer bought soybeans from a grain elevator near his farm in Indiana and used them to plant a late-season second crop. He then used some of the resulting seeds to replant such crops in subsequent years. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/feb/12/monsanto-sues-farmers-seed-patents https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/feb/12/monsanto...

vectorEQ 7y ago

is this for all farms or just very large ones? i can imagine small time farmers perhaps not having such super seeds / plants?

stevehawk 7y ago
It's pretty much all farms in the US, since most farms in the US are hard corn or soy farms. It's large and small. Bank owned and family owned. Everyone buys their seed every year. It's not some conspiracy, it's just better business for the farmer.
- kls 7y ago
  Heirloom and organic farmers tend to reseed from heritage crops. I will give you they are a small subset of farming but the cross germination is having an effect on them.
philipov 7y ago
The case of hybrid vigor I'm familiar with is from camels during the middle ages. One hump camels are adapted to hot desert climates, while two hump camels are adapted to cold steppe climates. This created a divide between central asia and the middle east where you would have to switch camels as you traveled. There were people who learned to crossbread the camels to create a hybrid that was stronger than either and could survive in both climates, and they began to dominate trade routes in the area. The catch was that the hybrid vigor only lasted a single generation, and if you tried to breed them again you'd get runts.
- tempguy9999 7y ago
  Aside: I grew normal and F1 hybrid courgettes (american = zucchini) as a kid and can confirm the hybrids were proper little triffids compared to the pure-strain plants. Regarding the camels, can you dig up a link, am curious. Thanks.
  - philipov 7y ago
    I learned about hybrid camels from the work of Dr. Richard Bulliet, particularly this lecture: https://youtu.be/ublh9JkbeuM?t=2350 https://youtu.be/ublh9JkbeuM?t=2350 I linked to the start of the section where he begins discussing the migration of the Turks into Iran (39:10). Discussion about hybrid camels is from around 45:26 onwards. Amazon link to his book: Cotton, Climate, Camels. https://www.amazon.com/Cotton-Climate-Camels-Early-Islamic-dp-0231148372/dp/0231148372/ref=mt_paperback https://www.amazon.com/Cotton-Climate-Camels-Early-Islamic-d... Here is the entire playlist of his 46 lectures on World History, of which the first link is lecture 13. His lectures are not just him retelling the material in the textbook, but rather gives criticism about how the textbook was constructed (He is the lead editor), and stories from his own research: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXxM47ZxXvkaODXkQBO5RrUJQh5mA0N6l https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXxM47ZxXvkaODXkQBO5R...
    - tempguy9999 7y ago
      Thanks, will follow up.
mlrtime 7y ago
Smaller farmers have consultants that come out and help plan for seed/herbicide/pesticide. Farming is very complicated now and many farmers just run the equipment.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

habnds 7y ago

> The Bowman case has come about after the 75-year-old farmer bought soybeans from a grain elevator near his farm in Indiana and used them to plant a late-season second crop. He then used some of the resulting seeds to replant such crops in subsequent years. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/feb/12/monsanto-sues-farmers-seed-patents https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/feb/12/monsanto...