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This is like asking how fungible are calories. People with the means to mill and cook with wheat flour can probably manage with corn too if the alternative is s

This is like asking how fungible are calories. People with the means to mill and cook with wheat flour can probably manage with corn too if the alternative is starvation.

shadowgovt 4y ago
I don't mean on the consumption side. I mean on the production side. Do they grow in the same soil? Do they take the same nutrients? Do they have the same water / sunlight / temperature band tolerances? Looks like that rotation is pretty common but there are some details to concern oneself with. https://extension.okstate.edu/fact-sheets/considerations-when-rotating-wheat-behind-corn.html https://extension.okstate.edu/fact-sheets/considerations-whe...
- colechristensen 4y ago
  Corn is a whole lot more productive, if you can grow it, you do. Wheat grows in places you can't grow corn.
- dredmorbius 4y ago
  Much of it boils down to water and/or irrigation. Maize (corn) likes wetter, wheat can stand dryer. In the US the corn belt starts in Ohio and includes eastern Nebraska, wheat is grown largely on the far western plains. Wheat is also a viable winter crop --- fall planting / spring harvest for "winter wheat". That typically means 2 crops a year (winter + summer), and possibly more. Rice is the third staple crop, though it wants a lot of water, and tends to be grown in subtropical climates as with China and India. Other substitutes include barley, oats, millet, etc., though those are far less prevelant than wheat & maize.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
LegitShady 4y ago
I had read somewhere that the varieties of corn grown for ethanol are not the same as the varieties grown for food but can't find the article now.
- colechristensen 4y ago
  There are special varieties of corn you can grow for ethanol, but you don't have to, the ethanol plants do not require it. There are required varieties and practices for growing corn intended for direct human consumption (i.e. making cornmeal or breakfast cereal). Most corn though goes to animal feed, industrial uses (corn starch, syrup, etc), or export. (source: am a 5th generation corn farmer)
  - ncpa-cpl 4y ago
    Hi! Just wanted to ask, are the cultivars or varieties for corn for human food, ethanol and corn for cattle feed different?
    - colechristensen 4y ago
      Each seed company provides a large number of options, some of them for specific uses, some of them not so much. The main differences are days to maturity, resistances to a variety of things, and nutrition content.

This is like asking how fungible are calories. People with the means to mill and cook with wheat flour can probably manage with corn too if the alternative is starvation.

shadowgovt 4y ago

I don't mean on the consumption side. I mean on the production side. Do they grow in the same soil? Do they take the same nutrients? Do they have the same water / sunlight / temperature band tolerances? Looks like that rotation is pretty common but there are some details to concern oneself with. https://extension.okstate.edu/fact-sheets/considerations-when-rotating-wheat-behind-corn.html https://extension.okstate.edu/fact-sheets/considerations-whe...

colechristensen 4y ago
Corn is a whole lot more productive, if you can grow it, you do. Wheat grows in places you can't grow corn.
dredmorbius 4y ago
Much of it boils down to water and/or irrigation. Maize (corn) likes wetter, wheat can stand dryer. In the US the corn belt starts in Ohio and includes eastern Nebraska, wheat is grown largely on the far western plains. Wheat is also a viable winter crop --- fall planting / spring harvest for "winter wheat". That typically means 2 crops a year (winter + summer), and possibly more. Rice is the third staple crop, though it wants a lot of water, and tends to be grown in subtropical climates as with China and India. Other substitutes include barley, oats, millet, etc., though those are far less prevelant than wheat & maize.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

LegitShady 4y ago

I had read somewhere that the varieties of corn grown for ethanol are not the same as the varieties grown for food but can't find the article now.

colechristensen 4y ago
There are special varieties of corn you can grow for ethanol, but you don't have to, the ethanol plants do not require it. There are required varieties and practices for growing corn intended for direct human consumption (i.e. making cornmeal or breakfast cereal). Most corn though goes to animal feed, industrial uses (corn starch, syrup, etc), or export. (source: am a 5th generation corn farmer)
- ncpa-cpl 4y ago
  Hi! Just wanted to ask, are the cultivars or varieties for corn for human food, ethanol and corn for cattle feed different?
  - colechristensen 4y ago
    Each seed company provides a large number of options, some of them for specific uses, some of them not so much. The main differences are days to maturity, resistances to a variety of things, and nutrition content.