June 25, 2019

Carbon dioxide should be used, not sequestered

Topic: Issues

June 25, 2019: Why are we so afraid of carbon dioxide? All plant life needs it. It doesn't need to be sequestered. It needs to be used. And ag has the answer!

Download the Using carbon dioxide mp3

Read the transcript:

Carbon dioxide is a necessity for all living things that are green. All plant life requires carbon dioxide. And in turn, they give us our oxygen that sustains our life.

You know there’s that word “sequestration” that’s being thrown around out there, that the environmentalists have even got us in agriculture bought into using. Well, let’s talk about the use of carbon dioxide, not the sequestration. Because carbon dioxide is a life-sustaining gas. We don’t need it sequestered. We need it utilized. Just as we utilize oxygen as human beings, our crops that we grow utilize CO2.

In fact, a Michigan State University study finds that 36,000 pounds per acre of CO2 is used by an average crop of 180-bushel corn with a net of 8 tons – 16,000 pounds – being used. So a net use of 8 tons. That would be like an individual going to the grocery store, buying a five-pound bag of potatoes, you’d have to buy 3,200 bags of potatoes to equal 8 tons. So that gives you, kind of a look at how much is being captured by an acre of corn. And now you might ask how much is an acre of corn? Well, it’s one football field. Or better yet, the houses you live in? It’s roughly the square footage of 18 average-sized houses.

We look at oxygen as being our lifeblood, which it is for all mammals. But we need the green crops. The corns. The wheats. We need the soybean fields. We need everything that is agriculture.

So as I researched these numbers and found out just exactly how many positive things farmers and ranchers contribute to our environment, it makes me even more proud to be able to represent farmers and ranchers at NDFB. And it makes me proud of the heritage that our country was founded on and the heritage we work to preserve for generations to come.