Why is a corn-based agriculture system problematic? Look at the numbers

The problem with this is that there is no such thing as a free lunch. Yes - livestock can eat things and get calories from plants that we humans can not. However, those plants still need water, sunlight & nutrients to grow. Marginal land will produce marginal crops. Harvesting cover crops or waste products means less nutrients in the soil. I have seen glowing estimates about how much more ethanol we could produce if we can come up with an efficient manner in which to use the cellulose in the corn stalks which are typically a “waste” product. However if you take those stalks off the field you have more erosion and you have to use more fertilizer the next year.

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