It's a good time to be a farmer in Iowa. Corn prices, at $5.91 per bushel as of Monday, are soaring in part because of growing demand for ethanol, a corn-based fuel that the federal government supported when it passed the energy bill late last year. And with help from chemicals and biotechnology, Iowa farmers produce 150 bushels of corn per acre, nearly double the yield in 1970, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Craig and Lavon disagree over how they should manage their farm and their land. The biggest clash is whether to sell genetically-modified vegetables and use pesticides and herbicides to ensure greater yield. "I tell people, our kids kind of grew up on a 'schizophrenic farm,' where dad farms one way [and I farm another]," Lavon Griffieon says. "I rail against genetically modified plants, while he plants genetically modified corn."
-excerpt from NPR
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