Just bought my newest Countryside......and read it from cover to cover. Then I read it again....closer....I can't seem to absorb it all at one reading!

The articles on corn burning stoves was very informative, but I wonder if they are really a viable heating alternative. They seem to work great, but facts about corn production that make you wonder if they are environmentally sound.

Corn is grown mostly for livestock feed....more than 60% of the cropland in the US is utilized for this (corn and soybean). Just over 2% is producing fruits and vegetables. With the high cost and low quality of produce in stores this seems out of balance to me! (Side note: I am not a vegetarian...but I don't eat much beef either)

Corn in this counrty is grown using chemical fertilizer and herbicides....A LOT of them. Some source state that 61% of ALL hebicides produced are applied to feed corn and soybeans. These are manufactured from oil, most of which is imported.

Corn is irrigated with water paid for with US government subsidies...$500 million to $1 billion dollars worth annually by some estimates. HUGE amounts of water are used for this.

The article states you can use moldy or lower grade corn. True, but these were still grown using these methods.

Are corn stoves a viable alternative?

I am thinking maybe not, but would like to hear other views and opinions.

-- Jason (AJAMA5@netscape.net), September 28, 2001

Answers

Any stove that uses a non-petroleum based renewable fuel is eco- friendly in my opinion!

We live in the corn belt, and believe me, you can grow fuel grade corn on marginal land without any fertilizers or pesticides, totally organic if you will. No irrigation needed at all here in the corn belt. You will get a decent crop, and a decent return on your money invested, and corn is a more renewable crop than firewood production.

-- Annie Miller in SE OH (annie@1st.net), September 28, 2001.

What sort of acreage of corn would be needed to heat an average house for the winter? I'd never heard of these before I came on this site. I don't think we have them in the uk.

Thanks

Alison

-- Alison Homa (alisonhoma@aol.com), September 28, 2001.

Allison:

Say a corn burning stove averages one bushel a day for a five month heating season with a moderate winter. That would be 150 bushels, give or take some. Some farmers get over 200 bushels to the acre, while others are lucky to get 100. Thus, one to two acres of corn should providing heating for one house for a moderate winter.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), September 28, 2001.

P.S. Go down to the older messages (by category) and look at the category for Heat (Other). Good info on corn burning stoves there.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), September 28, 2001.

I'm certainly no expert on corn production, but I have been a gardener for long enough to know that you may be able to grow corn for a few years on land with no fertilizer, but you WILL have to add some eventually or wear the soil out completely. The law of diminishing returns I believe is what it's called.

As much fertilizer and herbicide that most farmers use...and the petroleum fueled machines they use to plant, water, harvest, clean, ship, and store it...I would have to say that corn IS a petroleum based fuel.

-- Jason (AJAMA5@netscape.net), September 28, 2001.

Jason:

Under your definition, which I don't disagree with, is there any heating fuel which is not petroleum based sometime in the process from source to burning?

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), September 29, 2001.

Jason: Oops, I meant to say I basically do agree with your definition. A lot of petroleum products and by-products are used to grow corn.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), September 29, 2001.

Jason, I raise corn and have a couple of problems with your point of view. I assume that you are familiar with the square footage of an acre, and therefore note that to control weeds, I use 4oz of a grass herbicide and 1pt of another for broadleaf weeds. I also have a computerized spray controller to apply EXACTLY the prescribed amount. I use approx. 150lbs of nitrogen and phosphorus and potassium to the soil test results. I for one cannot afford to haphazardly over apply fertilizer and chemicals to crop land. Just what I have mentioned here is roughly $50 per acre. Spread that over 600 acres and you can see why we as farmers are careful about our applications. How many neighbors in your area don't bat an eye at a 50lb bag of lawn fertilizer and spread one in the front yard and one in the back? I think there is an education breakdown between reality and uneducated opinion. My 2 cents.

-- Tim (dalet@mvtvwireless.com), October 11, 2001.

Gosh! Turned up noses at a renewable energy source. Makes you wonder if there's ever pleasing the greenies. Fact is, all pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, etc. are designed to break down within so many days of application. This is not just my opinion as I have a restricted chemical applicator's license. And i just bought a corn stove. Can't sat for sure whether or not it works great. But it does get pretty warm and it does require a certain amount of maintenance or the fire goes out. But it is cheap. I estimate that i'll use 10 to 15 hundred pound bags of corn a month, currently 6.50 a bag. It will not replace my propane heating but will greatly supplement. also, having just completed our first year of market gardening, I can say with some authority, that you have no idea what your talking about when it comes to the vegetable market. Fresh vegetables through frozen have never been cheaper. We sold tomatoes for ten cents a piece at our local market as a way of getting some business. If you're paying a lot for produce, try your local market and stay away from the up-scale supermarkets. The market is not fully saturated, but close.

-- al taglieri (altrish@earthlink.net), October 29, 2001.