Ogallala Aquifer | What Happens When the Water Runs Out, National Geographic Magazine: Tractor Rodeo
Imperial NE -A $24 million USD pile of corn that will be consumed by 53,000 cows in a matter of months. A press to get the corn under cover creates a crazed tractor rodeo harvesting corn and red milo before the storm rolls in. Much of the region’s corn, a thirsty, irrigated crop, is grown to fatten cattle. This mound eventually would stretch 300 feet long, contain five million bushels.
WATER is about CORN and CORN is about BEEF. And now this entire area is about BIG AG. Farmers with bedspring corrals are long gone. Big AG WON. A Darwinian dwindling of rural areas survived the Dust Bowl and the family farm crisis, and now they are facing the end of easy water. But BIG AG is still here to stay and will remain with feed lots like this one even after the easy water is gone.
The math on the corn: 24 million USD is 5.25 million bushels or around $3.80 a bushel.