Corn: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

John Oliver discusses the financial and environmental impact of corn in the U.S., and whether or not he really knows what Pearl Harbor is.
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[@JaydonTobler]

I remember I had a professor in my early years of college who told us: “You want to know how to lose a presidential election in 5 seconds? Just say ‘I want the US farming sector to be a free market.’”

[@tutumazibuko2510]

Non-American here, why is that?

[@connorwalters9223]

Rural conservatives hate big government socialist handouts… except for agricultural subsidies, infrastructure subsidies, social security, etc.

[@ThreeRunHomer]

@@tutumazibuko2510 the big industrial farmers are welfare queens. And the industrial meat industry loves the low, low price of subsidized feed corn.

[@Eric-pz1iv]

​@jhealey48 aliens bro! Aliens everywhere!

[@jibberscrabst1114]

... and this problem was CREATED by bad government policy in the first place. Our farmers are starving trying to grow corn they can't eat, and we can't afford the high prices of good fresh fruits and vegetables.

[@andrewtexley448]

I’m a 32 year old 4th generation farmer from northeast Nebraska. Pasture with cattle, hay fields, corn, soybeans, and cereal grains. Currently making the switch to certified organic, it’s been cool to learn how to farm that way, and to see the soil biology respond. I farm on my own since my dad (57) died in 2021 and grandpa died in 2022. My grandma still lives in her house on the farm and I take care of her. There are large complexities to the agricultural economy that aren’t covered ideal. But, I think it is important to remember is that farms, such as mine, are so far from consumers that it wouldn’t be possible to raise fresh “local” produce. The best way to better steward my farm ecologically would be to switch to only ranching, but with diversifying my crop rotation I can produce both grain and cattle while healing my soils

[@evanshulman107]

Thank you for working to make the transition, and your appreciation of a healthy soil ecosystem. This is one of the ways we can get back on an ecologically sound (and nutritious) track.

[@soccermommyNPC]

I’m sorry for your losses. A lot of Americans are so incredibly far removed from their food sources, myself included.

[@7177YT]

All the best mate! Here in Austria a large percentage of family farms went organic and make a killing. Its different in the EU though, organic farming is encouraged and subsidised. Cheers!

[@stefvanderaelst2032]

In europe a lot of farms rotate with rapeseed as the winter crop. Might be interesting to look into that

[@andrewtexley448]

@@stefvanderaelst2032 no market in my area to sell rapeseed

[@Ironraven001]

I grew up a small organic vegetable farm that directly feeds 500 families year round, supplies 3 small grocery stores, and 10 restaurants with the majority of their freah veggies, all without commercial fertilizers, herbacides or pesticides, all on 10 acres of land. Spoiler, we have never been eligible for a single aubsidy. Feeding PEOPLE hasn't ever been the point of a farm subsidy, when i was in high school the largest recipient of farm subsidies was the Chicago Bulls player Scotty Pippen...

[@shaec3405]

Scotty Pippin????????

[@childrenofalessergod]

No it wasn’t…

[@jpe1]

According to a report by the Heritage Foundation, Scotty Pippen received $131,575 in farm subsidies over a five year period. Hardly “the largest recipient” but not nothing, and it does show how disconnect subsidies are from actual farming activity.

[@B3Band]

You'd feed 5000 if you stopped blindly shouting "pEsTiCiDe bAd fErTiLiZeR bAd"

[@thoughtlesskills]

​@@B3BandR/woooooooosh

[@lisam.willson1679]

I am LITERALLY screaming, crying, and nodding my head with PURE JOY. As a soil science student and future conservation agronomist, I have been saying for YEARS everything that the Last Week Tonight team has reported here. There's much, much more to this than what they had time to cover, but the point being made here is that growing a heavily subsidized crop over millions of acres of what's left of our agricultural land in the way that it's grown and for the purposes it's grown causes MASSIVE damage to the land, the environment, our health, our economy, and our farm communities. This practice MUST STOP. Huge, huge thanks to John and the LWT team for bringing attention to this!!!

[@sandoumir4348]

It would be less obvious if you just copy paste the second most liked comment. Or, Just do not do this sad thing at all?

[@timothykeith1367]

Most corn growers receive relatively small subsidies. Many farmers don't earn an annual profit - the value of their land continues to gain - on that basis, they operate on credit. Many farmers stay in business from off-farm income, but gradually their assets grow into the millions

[@thehippiedog5956]

Amen brother (sisters too). People feel the need to alter everything for a paycheck. Not sure, but, I'll bet GOD doesn't like it and won't care for those people that are messin around with his good works. Mother earth and father GOD? Let's spend the free tax money that is not free (someone had to work for that money) to mess the whole thing up. That should be the left over money to feed hungry children but instead lets spend it to alter everything and mess the whole world up? Wowsers what a great idea huh.

[@williamflynn7527]

Now queue Fox News telling America how much John hates farmers.

[@johncspine2787]

Here in Utah, they tell us to conserve water, then allow foreign corporations to use nearly (or more than) 80% of our water to be poured out into the desert to farm alfalfa and other hay crops for exports to cheap beef hungry countries. Meanwhile the Salt Lake will dry up and allow arsenic to blow around and kill us all.

[@kvr22_]

As a native Iowan I'm really glad to see John cover this. The subsidies hurt small farmers and normal Iowans in the same way they benefit big ag. It's been one of the largest issues affecting our water sources and is one of the key ways big ag continues to control Iowa and hold oligopolies.

[@MickVegas]

Every 4 years politicians descend on Iowa for the caucus there, promising ever more welfare for corn growers. And all those Party of Bootstraps and Personal Responsibility members clap like wind-up monkeys for all those sweet government handouts they're going to get. The US would be a far better place if we stopped the farm welfare and paid what food actually costs to produce.

[@WyoDevil]

From Illinois here and I agree. You can look up all the subsidies and who gets them here. Farms all in the wives names and trucking company in the husbands. Stark Country's largest farmer just bought his second Ferrari.

[@trevorfroehling4340]

Crop insurance never pays in IL and hasnt for years. This guy is clueless

[@black_forest_]

There's an interesting case study here about how when New Zealand cut back on subsidies back in the day, they actually eventually *increased* profit for farmers. When the farmers had to innovate, they started to spread fertilizers, weed killers etc less carelessly and started to plant things more efficiently, diversifying their fields contents, moving away from monocultures.

[@fruitcup01]

Veggies can be ground up for salads, or fine ground and frozen in small 2oz cups, sneak them into soups and for picky eaters, or anyone in general who don't eat chunks of veggies. Anyway, ground up means a better chance at nutrient absorption, therefore you can eat less.

[@Martha-q8p1b]

Thank you for covering this. As an organic gardener/ permaculture practitioner/ vegetarian and environmentalist, who has spent over a decade researching biodiversity/ nutrition/ soil/ etc....I just wish more people cared about the planet and health of the poor livestock. There are many terrific (disturbing) documentaries about corn. John Oliver, you are a national treasure! Thank you for being a wonderful, sane voice in the world!

[@B3Band]

As a software engineer making $180k per year, I too want to just brag about myself while appending something relevant to the video at the end. I like corn.

[@PlaceStillMatters]

@@B3Band😅

[@gawkingtimetraveler1704]

The very definition of pretentious.

[@kylegonewild]

Over a decade of research but no published papers or doctorate?

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

Organic gardening isn't really any better, there's a pretty long list of chemicals that the government allows to be used in the production of organic products. Perhaps for some smaller producers they don't, but it's difficult to grow things that people can actually afford with just genuinely organic methods and supplies. And, some of it, like chemical fertilizers, make precisely no difference in terms of health and only make one in terms of the environment due to pressure to ignore the consequences of unsustainable practices.

[@oldred9122]

For those wondering where our old friend Monsanto is in this episode, that company has been bought by Bayer

[@MrSimezzes]

I was wondering about that. Ty

[@thehippiedog5956]

Let see here... Round up is bad for you, be really scared of spraying your flower beds with it. All the while our corn, canola and soy crop is sprayed constantly with tons of that liquid every week. Hey eat that. It's perfectly OK according to the same people that say it's bad for you. And liquid corn? As fuel or liquor? Sounds like emissions free fuel and fun and we can't have that huh... Monsanto even made a suicide gene that kills the seeds annually essentially makes them sterile so you will have to buy new seeds every year from guess who? And if your fields are contaminated with Monsanto corn or canola or soybean even from a truck driving down the road by your farm they will take you to court and if you can't afford to fight them they will force () you destroy all your heritage seeds (saved for generations) and buy their suicide seed (under court order) instead. Sound fake? Not true? Watch this... kzbin.info/www/bejne/oKCoZ52vodmjhNEsi=t84MSdSNMoyb7hxU Thanks big business.

[@yourhealinghome8812]

They sold it to Bayer for cents on the dollar, so that Monsanto would disappear as a legal entity; making the it impossible to sue the company for the death and destruction it wrought on lands and people for DECADES. Now it continues to operate as always, but under the umbrella of foreign ownership, it's impossible for injured parties in this country to seek restitution for all the disease, death, and destruction it has caused, and continues to cause. You can thank Ronald Reagan for deregulating corporate greed, and unleashing capitalists to poison us all for profit. If you use Roundup, so you don't have to bend over and pull weeds; you're slowly killing your children with the glyphosate Monsanto developed, that makes holes in your internal organs, and never breaks down in the environment. It just continues to cycle through all the organisms on the planet at continually increasing levels, slowly killing every kind of animal that lives, at continually increasing rates. This is not controversial, like global warming. This is established, measured, proven science. Why have you never heard of this, you may ask; well it's because Roundup is a highly profitable product, that represents a very large share of annual revenue, and millions of dollars, and thousands of jobs would be lost if public safety mattered to governments and corporations. Have a nice day!

[@DerHalbe]

As a German with relatives in Bavaria… I don’t appreciate the name of that company 😅

[@pr0xZen]

At the end of the day, it's "just" a company. Meaning they sail where the winds of the market demand takes them. There are immense forces to fight to change that demand, but this is a good place "to start"; Public education. And these days, in America, sadly a "TV" topical comedy show is one of the best avenues of reaching a large chuck of the general masses. No knock to the show, but rather, how deeply politicized _the curriculum content_ of public education has gotten. Which is a massive and acute problem, because a lot of that politic is _very_ effectively censorship of observable empirical facts about our world, its nature, mechanics, human experience - heck even aspects of history is being targeted.

[@jazzmasterjax83]

John Oliver is the only person I can listen to talk about corn for this long

[@alysdexia]

weird → uncanny, dolt; why not say maize maze?; chocolate isn’t raw but roasted and hav you ever tried raw rabbit?; still the 2,000s and 2000s as opposed to 20-00s; wheat and oat _are_ corn[s]; a child isn’t a they

[@trevorfroehling4340]

The only readon hes the only one talking is because he is clueless

[@Badbigboy123]

@@trevorfroehling4340 corn brain

[@DreadX10]

@@alysdexia Wheat, Oat, rye, barley, maize/corn and rice are all types of gras ...

[@alysdexia]

@@DreadX10 grasses and corns

[@laalaa99stl]

Any time the word legal is prefixed with "perfectly" you know some shady shit is involved.

[@Cykotyk]

You can throw "completely" on that list too.

[@jjww30]

Just like a perfect phone call.

[@Xeonerable]

"perfectly legal" "completely legal" **shifty eyes**

[@Merble]

@@jjww30 Didn't Trump say this about his calls to Putin? (Sorry if I ruined the joke lol)

[@skabuoy]

@@Merble Yes he did, and yes you did, but that's okay... ;-)

[@EveryCrazyDay]

King Corn is such an underrated gem of a documentary. Both super informative and entertaining while also being very authentic to the whole vibe of the story.

[@charlieni645]

it's a mandatory watch of my college's environmental science 101 course and the professor even quizzes on it. Felt like in high school again if not for the quiz.

[@deepthoughtswithjessica]

Agreed. So well done.

[@runawaycatwithbreadaroundm2512]

I saw the title and my mind went to King Corn.

[@J.M.-nb4gw]

Yes they did a great job of pointing out the absurdity of the American corn industry, which has way too much influence over government and is totally subsidized by taxpayers. So every time you see farmer with a big fancy house and tractor thank Earl Butz. I'm from Indiana so I knew about Earl Butz as I was growing up in the 70s, he was a right-wing Nixon appointee who initiated the "big corn" push back in the seventies and it has become a totally out of control government funded monster. (But is featured in the documentary called "King Corn" which I highly recommend!) I will give Earl credit for pointing out out that it would be difficult to feed an ever increasing human population so we would be wise to consider population control. People mocked him and forced him to resign, and 50 years later here we are with over 8 BILLION humans which is completely unsustainable and will lead to our eventual Extinction. Here's Butz' comment about the Pope that got him fired, you're welcome 😁 [At a breakfast meeting with newsmen, Butz set forth his belief that population control would be necessary to meet the rising demand for food by the world's hungry. A reporter reminded Butz that Pope Paul VI had opposed population control, a point of view that angered many of those concerned, like Butz, about overpopulation. But Butz reiterated his position in a mock Italian accent: "He no playa the game, he no maka the rules."]

[@erichall090909]

Also an episode of the west wing

[@TotalyKenyan]

He forgot to mention that the corn subsidies in USA destroyed corn farming in Mexico greatly contributing to a lot of the current social problems in that country; including drug cartels, mass migration and displacement.

[@johngalt97]

While installing an expensive countertop in a very nicely appointed farm home, I overheard the farm wife chatting on the phone about how they would be ruined without government intervention in their farming operation.

[@boRegah]

This insane bug will surely be called a feature by many powerful douche bags

[@larryd6143]

Oloton corn has been grown in Oaxaca for centuries and deserves all the financial reward for its nitrogen fixing ability. Patent profits should go to the people of Oaxaca and not Monsanto.

[@The14Rules]

For what it's worth it has destroyed farming in the US as well. I farmed for my father in law for years, and I watched small family farms get gobbled up by large dairies year after year. We are one of the few family farms left in our area, and our profit margins are so thin it won't last another generation. Without corn subsidies we would be gone tomorrow. People also have no idea just how bad the water supply is here in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas. There aren't enough subsidies in the world to make up for no ground water. If Mexico has ground water, they'll get us in the long run.

[@KaitlynBurnellMath]

American farm subsidies have also definitely hurt Canadian farmers, although obviously Canada doesn't have anywhere near the problems Mexico has.

[@kortneyjones6746]

Having a dad that’s on a farming cooperative board, I can definitely say that the way they say “actively farming” is just as true as to how they choose board members each year. I’d wish John do a separate video on that cause all of these farming companies are cooperatives which are supposed to be led by actual farmers but this hasn’t been the case.

[@ecosta]

That's how all cooperatives are led these days. Cooperatives originally were a way of giving power to independent producers. Now all of them are just regular companies with no field experience - only money making skills.

[@MrTJP777]

The truth is distracted Americans owe a lot to John. Thank you for your research!

[@andethidialbubabibub3261]

He and HBO earn millions with the views and subscriptions. Research should be the bare minimum.. But I guess if you want to make him presents, go ahead

[@lorimalone931]

​@@andethidialbubabibub3261Who hurt you?

[@Sour_roses]

​@@andethidialbubabibub3261do you not thank a doctor for saving lives or soldiers for fighting for their country yeah they make money but Thier job is respectable same with John oliver

[@crimpinurpimpin]

Distracted Americans? You mean it takes too much effort to learn about subjects on your own because your “distracted” by social media and other useless things Americans waste their time on instead of education and knowing what’s happening around the world.

[@masonvega]

John Oliver screaming "What are you doing!" has become my favorite thing.

[@preshisify]

😂💯

[@snehashispanda4808]

I am an atheist. I don't believe in the existence of God. There is insufficient evidence or rational justification to support the belief in any gods or supernatural entities. I rely on reason, logic, and empirical evidence to form my worldview and do not find compelling evidence or arguments to support the existence of god.

[@kristajohnson9173]

oh man i need to see if theres a clip of just that on youtube so i can send it to people in chat

[@preshisify]

@@kristajohnson9173 no kidding, right?! John Oliver is literally one of the best shows of the modern era, top five anyway, excellence, he is a hoot!!! ☕

[@psuedonym9999]

@snehashispanda4808 I think you commented in the wrong thread...

[@DJVC1985]

John Oliver managed in 25 minutes to do what Stephen King tried multiple times: Make Corn scary.

[@leebarbs7176]

In the Tall Grass was pretty scary.

[@mattia_carciola]

Now that I think about it I'm shocked he didn't mention him even once

[@cody9883]

I watched the first movie in the late 80's when I was 12 years old.... scared the sht out me.

[@lorimalone931]

"Real America" ladies and gentlemen. And they are so angry about people getting food stamps.

[@Laeiryn]

Thank you SO much because due to this I learned that the only good piece of writing from someone I fucking hate was plagiarized and it's literally just a SK story.

[@aurum79argentum47]

Here's an untold cost of growing corn: my Iowa grandparents spent 10 miserable years dying of Parkinson's disease in a nursing home. The incidence of this disorder is 6 times higher among farmers using pesticides around their rural wells. After a life of hardship growing America's crops crops, they had their they had their Golden Years taken away from them.

[@rscii497]

I'm sorry to hear about your grandparents. You mentioned the contamination around rural wells, but I was curious if you knew whether the major cities in Iowa also are dealing with groundwater contamination? What about places like Des Moines and the immediate suburbs to the north and west of the city?

[@sammiekay08]

100%. I grew up in a small town in Iowa, and the cancer rates are so high as well. I worked in elder care for years and I saw so many Parkinson's and Lewy body patients 😬

[@sarahtenbensel2231]

Yep, my Nebraska farming side of the family is rife with Parkinsons

[@teresaforsyth6185]

Yes, but, I live in a subdivision and my next door neighbor was cross-country coach and teacher--he's got Parkinson's. Are we sure that the cause is pesticides chemicals in water?.

[@sarahtenbensel2231]

@teresaforsyth6185 pesticides are one of many factors in Parkinsons. About 10% of cases maybe a large genetic component

[@notthegoodgirl]

I’m from Missouri, and what Big Ag and the gov’t has done to regular farmers is criminal. Big Ag is also to blame for the Colorado River running dry.

[@someguy2135]

Especially animal agriculture. As the video showed with the pie chart, 40% of corn goes to farm animal feed. Even a bit more goes to biofuels, which is worse for the environment that oil. Ending animal agriculture and biofuels would feed 4 billion more people according to a study done by the University of Minnesota. We now feed a lot more calories and even protein to farm animals than we get from eating those animals!

[@someguy2135]

Each vegan saves 219,000 gallons (829,000 liters) of fresh water every year!

[@kimineko7856]

Is it really the government or corporate interests in the government? A lot of places out west also have priority water rights if they are farmers. I found it ridiculous that they were planting more nut trees in California (I think pistachio) 10 years or so ago, which were very water intensive, even though it was during a drought. It made them more money in the meantime, but the drain on the already very strained water supply was ridiculous. I think I heard that they had to cut some down a few years ago because the drought got so bad. They shouldn't have even been planted in the first place.

[@pamplachte5089]

From Missouri, too. Family farms have been sold. My grandpa’s farm sold and the alfalfa field is now a housing development. Across from a church. Most Democrats who run for office are Veterans, yet Republicans lie about abortion and 2nd amendment.

[@DopeyDetector]

Imagine having the option to leave Missouri, yet choosing to stay. 🤮 I guess racism is comfortable

[@syddlinden8966]

Monocropping bad. Monoculture bad. Diversified and companion planting good.

[@darkbozo11]

Costs more.. thats bad $ always priority one

[@marcux83]

profit > everything else. thanks capitalism.. best system... but only for the ones on top

[@yorgivon-schmourgeussborgi]

The impending dust bowl is laughing at us already.

[@burntorangehorn]

"Companion planting" means different things in different contexts, but yeah, monocropping and monoculture are bad. Ask the people who have to manage the American elm monoculture in DC.

[@markhasenour12]

I'm a 5th generation farmer in the corn belt and you don't have a clue what you're talking about

[@laalaa99stl]

Randy Beavers. Rusty Butz. Tricky Dicks. This episode had it all!

[@danb9447]

Also Horny Stalks

[@shaec3405]

And corn.... Beans want to be it, oats want to Fuck it. Lol.

[@lL338]

Perfect.

[@anthonygordon9483]

Wait ?!? He talked about multiple Richard Nixon's ?

[@cmdraftbrn]

but what of slick willie?

[@ralphiegouch110]

I'm a Kansan farmer, I've met Wes Jackson, worked in ag policy, and currently getting my PhD in agronomy. To say I'm in the middle of all this is an understatement...and John Oliver has nearly all of this correct. -Ethanol = Made-up BS -Corn Lobby is powerful -Subsidies mostly go to huge farms, all of which are divided into dozens of LCC/corps -Small farms still struggle. Many are failing and families are effectively in poverty. -We grow too much corn on land that can't support corn causing huge soil losses and nutrient runoff -Cattle die after eating corn for months...this is one thing that is actually incorrect, obviously cattle can't eat 100% corn and nothing else. If you only ate one specific thing for months, then you'd die too. -And for you city people, you can't 'just grow something else'. The choices are corn, wheat, sorghum, soybeans, and cotton/rice in some places. Everything you eat, like vegetables, require huge amounts of labor and markets that don't exist on the require scale needed.

[@joshcross7832]

The only thing i didnt like was he made it seem like corn was all the cattle ate. Bad farmers will only give corn to just fatten up. Good farmers will give other stuff to give nutrients with corn as a filler because well itnisncheaper then the healthy feed.

[@pattyofurniture]

​@@joshcross7832My understanding is that they're finished on corn at the feedlot to fatten them up before slaughter. I was curious about the effects John's Burger King eluded to, so I looked into it.

[@rjl5759]

@@pattyofurniture Feedlots are not only used to fatten up cattle for slaughter. That's a myth.

[@KayPrescesky]

I actually didn't know that. Thank you so much!

[@mndlessdrwer]

And only one of those isn't nitrogen depleting. Pretty disturbing, really.

[@noamb.6491]

I just published my senior thesis on the dangers of ethanol due to Land-Use Change earlier this year. Very awesome to see it get huge attention from John Oliver!

[@pine4928]

Is it available on google scholar?

[@mimirows]

Just wondering, are you studying at Iowa State University?

[@jaackmcmahon8757]

Keep the pressure to end corn's subsidy. Ethanol has MUCH LESS energy than gasoline .gallon per gallon!

[@visnuexe]

Execellent teveal about corn, one of the most inbred plants on Earth being planted in mono cropping that is destroying out soils!

[@meatpopsicle6244]

I make an additional 30-50 HP tuned on 35% ethanol.

[@katerogers6319]

Farmer here. Thank you for covering this.

[@thelexicon7294]

When I find myself in times of trouble The news anchor says to me: "This will be your last Field trip"

[@ellien5014]

Hah, literally field trip.

[@premierpollo]

Have you ever ran through a cornfield backwards? Naked?

[@maqanyllo]

Let it be.

[@koriw1701]

@@maqanylloyou beat me to it!

[@RR-dx8tv]

how far can you squirt?

[@stevelevy2845]

As good as this segment was, I can't get "beans want to be it, oats want to f*ck it" out of my head. Watched it back three times, howled each time.

[@jonathanweintraub]

Non-liquid gold 😂. No one had the guts to tell him “That’s gold, sir”

[@boRegah]

And corn syrup (I just coined and everyone was like, great idea sir!) will be known as non-non-liquid gold. Or non-non-non-solid gold if you will

[@Primalxbeast]

Not trying to defend Trump here, but I guess gold is a more liquid asset than real estate. It was probably just another one of his brain farts, but that's the only instance I can think of where someone would call gold liquid other than when it's being smelted.

[@sherinameless1618]

"And if we took that non-liquid gold and fried it in liquid-liquid-gold, paired with a 'hot dog,' because we love our hotdogs, folks, we could have a 'non-liquid-gold dog.' Nobody has ever thought of that before."

[@mzaite]

Literally the entirety of the trump nightmare boils down to “no one had the guts to tell him…..”

[@xnflg3074]

yea i hate trump but this was obvious. also, "liquid gold" is an idiom for petroleum@@BALDWIN_IV_OF_JERUSALEM

[@TheOJDrinker]

As an Iowa resident, watching John Oliver trying to walk through corn was hillarious. I never realized "walking through corn" was a skill.

[@dancepiglover]

Being from England, he’s not used to walking through corn stalks. 😆

[@AC3handle]

As a former Iowa resident, that place SCARES me now.

[@dcbchannel1619]

Anyone riding RAGBRAI knows one or two reasons to walk into a corn field.

[@sarahmusicaddy]

Lots of spiders in between rows of corn

[@h.w.s.4591]

He is deliberately trying to make it look as hard as he can. The bit wouldn't work as intended otherwise.

[@mastma0321]

I love that J.O. covered this topic! I come from a family that farmed for decades, and the subsidies have not only contributed to poor soil nutrients and erosion but also have inflated the value of farm land. My family has an 800-acre farm in Wisconsin that my Great Great Grandparents started 115 years ago, but sadly, it seems that my father's generation will be the last one to farm. When my grandfather passed away 15 years ago, he left the whole farm to my uncle, which was fine because my uncle was the one who helped support and ran the farm while he was alive. My uncle has two children who both went into computer engineering and now live in California and Arizona. When my uncle passes away, I'm fairly certain that the farm will be sold as neither child wants to farm. I've run the numbers every single way and can not come up with any profitable way to buy the farm. Most of the other farms around the area have been bought by corporations to farm or rented out. This has caused the land values to be untied to reality. My cousins would realistically be able to get $6-7 million for the farm now. I can't blame them if they took the money because they have no need or want to keep hold of real estate that they don't use. It's a shame because it would be nice to keep the farm in the family for another 100 years, but this is happening to multiple small family farms. Pretty soon, the only ones that will be able to buy farms are going to be massive corporations and other larger farms that will keep consolidating. To be clear, I'm not mad at my family because that's the hand they were dealt with, and they should play it to maximize their own benefit. I am salty at the government that they keep subsidizing farms of corporations, unprofitable farms, and farmers that do not have any business behind a tractor because they can not efficiently manage their farms.

[@robertplatt643]

I was looking at buying a small plot in Michigan for 4k an acre. Not as high quality as yours, but the farmers I have met have also had to work cash jobs to survive, or even rely on charity labor by neighbors during hard times.

[@jibberscrabst1114]

Yet another hurdle for doing good with the land... you can't use it to claim 'organic' crops for a number of years after Monsanto last touched it. 'Organic' has become a grossly abused label, but some places are starting to enforce rules.

[@bkayser05]

Common story for most farm families. Me and my brother will probably rent out our grandparents farm in Iowa when it eventually passes to us but the number of families that are still farming is dropping significantly and yeah it has always been clear that planting mostly corn is not good for the land but is extremely profitable for the owners and farmers despite the numerous drawbacks

[@janyceseahorn4013]

Amen! From Iowa and grew up on my family farm and never questioned farming “fence post to fence post”. Thank the Lord, the pheasants and quail are repopulating in SE Iowa. Not without a good plan from my Dad. I still own that farm and corporate America is attempting to destroy it. Please vote💙 in November. My bad. I am an Iowa State graduate and getting so tired of the red sycophant parade that lack any semblance of vision, policy…..what am I leaving out, oh yes, ethics🤔

[@bkayser05]

@janyceseahorn4013 also an Iowa State grad, class of 2008 and completely agree.

[@KuriusOranj]

There was a corn field near my house when I was growing up. They eventually turned it into a subdivision. The new homeowners complained that the soil was essentially dust, and was nearly lifeless. Most struggled annually to keep anything alive in the yard. The corn farming had completely destroyed the soil.

[@kosipova01]

The guy eating a burger is a legend! I was hoping you got him to do the final message

[@Alaryicjude]

Totally same. I thought that's where he was going with that last part too.

[@kg4wwn]

I am SURE they tried to find him.

[@Lynn.Panadero4242]

Did you notice the last three bites of a burger sitting on the car dash? I’m surprised he didn’t mention it.

[@Alaryicjude]

@@kg4wwn, even a parody of the guy would have sufficed, imo.

[@reesemanternach6167]

As a kid from Iowa, everyone experiences the frightening event of being lost in a cornmaze at least once. As an adult, everyone experiences being lost in a cornmaze, you're just too embarrassed to tell your friends

[@jcahill85]

if you got lost in the corn maze its because you've lost touch with your iowan ancestors. ask the corn silks for guidance.

[@KyleX515]

You should have done as I did and ask for guidance from He Who Walks Behind the Rows.

[@LGDrunk]

As someone who grew up in Iowa, I hate Iowa

[@leebarbs7176]

I've seen In the Tall Grass...no more cornfields for me

[@Odinsday]

As someone who has never been to Iowa, the entire state just seems like one giant corn maze that will trap your soul in if you ever dare set foot in it.

[@bojome3751]

Thanks HBO for making Thursdays the new monday.

[@ThomasBarrettMusic]

Yeah, it sucks

[@JPOG7TV]

They wrote off Mondays that’s why

[@harbingerofsalt]

They did this so his stories wouldn't have as big an impact as they used to so that other shows can win an Emmy already

[@prashank]

They are trying to push people to their streaming service. Can't blame them, they gotta pay for it somehow, rather have it late on youtube than show getting cancelled.

[@hanifarroisimukhlis5989]

@@harbingerofsalt So humble of them, being second

[@StephenGreene-uo3oz]

This is one of the BEST JO productions I have ever seen. I have beenteaching this CORN DILEMMA for decades. Thanks,John.

[@brandongillette6463]

Fun fact: I won a speech tournament hosted by the University of Nebraska in about 2004 with a speech critical of the corn subsidy. I was given one of those corn cob shaped hats as a prize.

[@99Channel99]

Surprised they didn't hogtie you with corn tassels and throw you into the maize maze.

[@alexanderhenby1362]

Irony thou name is corn?

[@jennifergriffiths3941]

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@BUFU1610]

I'm nowhere near an expert as a foreigner, but shouldn't that be "thy name" ?

[@AJ_LFC]

Lol looks like that prize was subsidized.

[@theoprineas844]

As an Iowan, you missed one of the worst things about corn: “Corn sweat” In the summer, you can see a watery haze rising up from the cornfields, and that means it’s going to be ungodly humid.

[@aryaastark9201]

😧

[@jonirischx8925]

You're making this up, right?

[@benu_bird]

@@jonirischx8925 Nope. Google it.

[@hello7032]

Have yall tried spraying anti perspirant on the corn?

[@MusicfromMarrs]

@@jonirischx8925 nnnnnnnnnope. Corn smut is the better of the choices. You can eat corn smut!

[@jakel5611]

I am a recent agronomy graduate from Iowa state and I couldn’t agree more

[@Diphyidae]

This is something I did a project on in grade 8 which was something like 18 years ago now. I can tell you right now my classmates did not care at all. The adult teachers also did not care. My mother worked at a federal facility monitoring freshwater pollution and remembers how all the scientist there had been saying for ages about how making corn as profitable as it is would cause serious issues with the great lakes, soley via the huge fertilizer required.

[@mndlessdrwer]

Yep. Liquid, chemical fertilizers are tremendously effective and very easy to apply compared to fermented animal waste fertilizer, but it's just so much easier for it to be washed away by rain or irrigation and end up in rivers, ponds, lakes, and oceans where it wreaks untold havoc on the ecosystems there. We didn't have these massive algal blooms before industrialized farming, because there was just no source of such concentrated nutrients to promote such a large bloom. There's loads of other problems associated with not only fertilization, but also pest control chemicals that people tend to just ignore.

[@hscott3417]

As an environmental scientist born, raised, and educated in Iowa, this is nothing new. In 1985 cargill opened a plant in eddyville Iowa specially to make high fructose corn syrup. 1986 most foods moved to HFC. Today over 70% of the worlds HFC comes from there. Iowa doesn’t feed the world, we fatten it. Ag is the most leveraged bailed out industry in our country. All at the cost of the family farmer.

[@burntorangehorn]

I have hypothesized that Iowa's position as the first contest for both parties' presidential nominations has played an enormous role in the corn industry's power. Now that Dems don't compete in Iowa anymore, I'm hoping they won't be as beholden to corn interests and corporate farm subsidies in general.

[@OBAMNASODA761]

It’ll be hard to convince farmers that overwhelmingly vote republican to end farm subsidies. One of the reasons why Iowa has shifted so far to the right, farmers used to vote reliably democrat

[@nekomancer4821]

​@@OBAMNASODA761 God the US is so bad, Why would you need to convince farmers in the first place, just fucking do it

[@mzaite]

Without HFCF we would be able to taste how shitty most of our cheap food is. That could cause “unrest”

[@stevenqueener1555]

U lnow the Henry A Wallace story then, & his famous life/ family. Corn research. & FDR'S VP 1940-44 VP, Scientist secretary of Agricultural 1932-1940. See Wallace Global using $millions for progressive change.

[@Sikizu]

I come from a farming family and this all the way. So many of my relatives have had to grow corn (from Monsanto, of course) instead of what they want to farm and/or what our family has been growing in rotation for generations. It's extremely expensive and is simply grown for them to keep their farms, not because it's what they want to do. Also I'd love to see you guys tackle Monstanto again.

[@boRegah]

I'd like to see many heavy things tackle Monsanto

[@2vhg7]

They showed Bayer logo that merged monsanto

[@santiagooehler]

it was weird to me that he didn't talk anything about monsanto seeds and korn in this (I know bayer bought them, but still)

[@JustinPogue]

They could tackle a different aspect of Monsanto every single season and I'd be here for it.

[@mzaite]

Even if you don’t grow Monsanto, the fucking pollen gets in your field and they fucking sue you anyways.

[@emilyb.8219]

As an Iowan, I have multiple shirts from college that were given out at my school's rivalry football games (sponsored by the Iowa Corn Growers Association), that tout all the uses of corn and how important corn is to the state. Their motto is "corn grows Iowa" when it should really be "corn subsidies grow big ag in Iowa". We're also one of just a couple states with rising cancer rates, most likely due to all the nitrates from farms in our water, but the state won't do anything to address it because of the ag lobbies.

[@roxyndra]

Indeed, nitrates and nitriles can increase risk of certain cancers. Many farming families have experienced the long-term health effects of industrial farming, which is why many of those same families have moved toward hiring others to tend the crops, and growing their own modest gardens for personal use.

[@sarahberkner]

Also, I'm from Minnesota and Iowa is not the most interesting state to drive through because there's so many cornfields- and an occasional manure smell but that only bothers me because I'm from the suburbs :) I didn't know about the nitrates but that sounds like the most serious problem.

[@drewwood6790]

​@@roxyndraNo small family farms are hiring people to "tend" to the crops. Other than planting spraying roundup and harvest there is no "tending" to crops.

[@jasony8480]

Lots of corn means lots of dust. Cancer rates around large grain siloes that feed large facilities tend to be significantly higher. At least some of the particulate sizes generated are not great to breath. Perhaps contributing factor.

[@CarlosIowa]

You are a Corrn Republic. No better than a Central American Banana Republic ... and for the same reason: $.

[@joshhenderson4517]

I grew up in the rural midwest. When I go back to visit I'm always surprised to see to relative dearth of locally grown produce. I asked a schoolmate who inherited a farm there why they didn't grow more diverse produce and things local people could eat. He laughed in my face.

[@jibberscrabst1114]

... and the corn machines keep getting bigger. Barns that used to be the center of farm life are literally falling down or being torn down because there's no longer any use for them. They need giant pole buildings to house the giant machines so heavy they'd crush the barns.

[@ecosta]

I'm not from a rural city, but I am not surprised by your friend's reaction. As far as I can see, there are two kind of farms: environmentally-correct, with diversification, selling to local consumers etc; and farms that make money. Also from my own perception, the second type tends to require less effort as you grow.

[@hiatusfromtheworld]

My High School teacher showed my class King Corn. Changed my life. I have taken the info into my life every step of the way since. It profoundly affected me and how I understand food and nutrition, as well as how everything is interconnected. One of the rare moments when everything was coming together in life and a piece of media hit me at the perfect time. Very cool to see it mentioned.

[@lizzy-wx4rx]

One of the best documentaries ever made, that has changed the lives of many. Kudos to your teacher! It should be required viewing for every American.

[@anglophileash]

"The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan covers this extremely well, too. It's basically the first 30% of the book, and I've never looked at the entire industrial agriculture system the same.

[@Lina-py5wm]

BRO YOU'RE MAKING SO MANY ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENTISTS SCREAM WITH GLEE

[@trevorfroehling4340]

What are environmental scientists going to eat without farmers?

[@carterrogan1409]

@@trevorfroehling4340 how did you watch this and come to the conclusion of "no farmers"

[@trevorfroehling4340]

@@carterrogan1409 If you get rid of fertilizer, diesel tractors, good commodity prices and crop insurance you get rid of all farmers bud

[@racool911]

@@trevorfroehling4340 Nothing, that's why Environmental Scientists are working so hard to help farmers make their farming actually sustainable

[@jhanschoo]

@@trevorfroehling4340 the whole point is to get farmers to grow actual food that people can eat instead of corn for fuel

[@MarksGamePlayPage]

One acre of tall Corn puts out 5000 gallons of water vapor per sunny day. 5000 X 90,000,000 million acres is equal to 450 billion gallons of humid air over the central and north central and eastern USA. Minnesota never used to be so humid in July Aug and September before.

[@williamwhitney7395]

Almost lost it when he told the Corn not to touch him and needing personal space. LOL

[@impishlyit9780]

"I don't like to be touched by corn.... or honestly anybody"

[@obakheyalezo2958]

"I don't like to be touched by corn or honestly anybody". Non-liquid gold🤣.

[@chimaxx]

The corn segment doesn't reveal much beyond what was in the 2007 documentary "King Corn" that it uses several clips from. But it does bring it to a new audience who might never have even heard about that documentary, and does it with the usual Daily Show humor. Anyone interested in learning more about the shady story of corn farming in the U.S. should give King Corn a watxh.

[@jibberscrabst1114]

I bet you'd also enjoy "SEED: The Untold Story" (2016); and "Look & See: Wendell Berry's Kentucky" (2016) PBS' series 'Independent Lens' generally available to view online.

[@maki9396]

To me that makes it more scary how relevant it still is

[@kaitlinandersen3117]

Thank you for covering this topic! Growing up in Iowa, as far as the eye can see, it’s all corn and soybean fields, dotted with cattle lots and hog confinements. Our fertile soil came from the prairies that once covered 70-80% of our state. We now have less than 0.1% remaining of our remnant prairie, making our landscape the most biologically altered state in the country. That is all due to the extractive nature of corn farming subsidized by our government, taking more and more land, even the side of highways that once used to be a refuge for our dwindling native plants. We can’t continue farming in this way, without cover crops, without crop rotation, constantly tilling up the land. We’re losing our topsoil at an alarming rate. But it feels like too much money is in the game for us to make changes. Most of the land is held by big corporations that care nothing about the next generation, who will take what they can get and leave when it’s no longer profitable. And don’t even get me started on the insecticides and neonicotinoids used on the crops and on the seeds!

[@quintenpalmer76]

I’m from Illinois and I find this validating because I wrote a speech for one of my college classes about this exact subject last year

[@stretta]

I'm from Iowa and when people learn this, they usually ask if I grew up on a farm. Then I have to explain Agribusiness to them and that leads to a lecture about the true nature of corn. Now I'll just print out a QR code with a link to this video.

[@impishlyit9780]

Did you grow up on a farm though? I can't tell which you're trying to imply.

[@stretta]

@@impishlyit9780 People don't seem to understand that while 85% of the land is farmland, it doesn't require 85% of the population to be a farmer. Less than 2% of Iowans work on.a farm. So, no I did not grow up on a farm, but I was surrounded by curious inedible corn. It is industrial production and the product is an industrial precursor to some other product.

[@spazzyshortgirl23]

@@stretta the point is that it’s easy to say “you don’t understand the farm” if you haven’t lived on it or know closely those who do.

[@walther435]

@@stretta I too grew up in NEBRASKA, the corniest of all states, lol but was not a farmer, just an af brat, my daddy decided to put roots down there, because it was nice to see all the farms around us, but many decades later, realized all the pesticides and god awful pollen gave all us rashes and asthma, etc. It was horrible to work in as a teen, as if a real job, I was lucky to survive one day out there shuckin and getting swollen eye, sneezin and wheezin. sweating to death earning below min wages, no health care. What a life!

[@stretta]

@@walther435 DETASSELING.

[@GuttersMN]

I grew up in Iowa in the 70's and 80's. Corn was everywhere. Detasseling was how I earned money for college. The mascot for the local children's theater was an anthropomorphic ear of corn. Corn was everywhere. I did start to wonder- if Iowa has such great soil and climate- why don't we grow other things? Tomatoes. Lettuce. Things we can actually eat.

[@jml141]

I grew up on a farm in Mississippi, we grew corn, soybeans, rice, cotton, etc.. There are environmental factors at play that don't make it feasible to grow some crops. We have too much insect pressure, heat and humidity to grow a lot of other crops. We can grow them, but not as efficiently as places in California that have near perfect conditions. They can grow corn too, but make more money off of vegetables. so much more at play than people realize.

[@RanleighWylde]

@@jml141 - Excellent response to GuttersMN and absolutely true. I live in TN. can't grow many kinds of fruits because late April frosts kill baby fruits and high spring winds blow them away. early heat spikes cause crops like radishes and spinach to bolt. There are lots of corn fields around here as well as other crops.

[@theobazuin7470]

@@jml141 so the benefits of the few (those farmers) outweigh the negatives of the majority. Good to know "so much more is at play".

[@Mitsuki424]

Was the mascot Playtime Poppy? I moved away from Iowa a few years ago, corn really is everywhere. I wish farmers grew more than corn or soybeans.

[@wartgin]

Even growing other grains would provide a modicum of diversity. Sorghum, oats, quinoa, and other such crops. I don't know what conditions they all require but certainly 30-40 years ago, the fields I now see in Illinois growing corn were all growing sorghum.

[@jaackmcmahon8757]

As a Californian living in the desert communities around Pa lm Springs, water is on people's minds as well as our water bills. skyrocket. Aquifers are approaching all time lows. The biggest dams in the country are at all time lows levels! Even at the dam construction phase, water was being sequestered as the dams approached completion. We are at a water crisis. Remaining water feeds the rest of America''. We can't eat or drink ethanol. 45% of all corn goes to fuel by way of legislation and federal subsidies. It has to change before its too late.

[@Meirstein]

Ethanol is the kind you drink.

[@ecosta]

Well, that's how things works nowadays... If you have a problem, cover it and call it a "solution"

[@debbrueggemann3762]

Just last Tuesday, a dust storm caused a multi car accident that killed one and injured several. This is not uncommon during planting season and is forecast to get worse thanks to climate change. Keep up the good work, LWT staff and Jon. We hear you and appreciate your efforts

[@DennisMoore664]

Dust storms in the Midwest, a roaring stock market before the inevitable crash, Nazi's and America-First isolationists in US politics on the rise, threats of war in Europe. I have this feeling that the 2030's are going to make the 1930's look like the 1830's. Everything old is new again. (and yes, I know the 1830's actually kind of sucked in a lot of ways - especially for anyone who was a wealthy white man)

[@nyanuwu4209]

What efforts? They aren't _doing_ anything...

[@DennisMoore664]

Dust Bowl days are here again. From the roaring Stock Market heading for a big crash to the authoritarian America-First isolationists in US politics to the fears of war spreading from just one country to others in Europe, it sure seems like the 2030's are going to make the 1930's look like the 1830's (which admittedly weren't all that great for anyone who wasn't a wealthy white man). (Second attempt for this and I left out referencing the political party in Germany that came to power in the 1930's, so I wonder if this version will make past the KZbin censors this time.)

[@sorcerousfang]

​@@nyanuwu4209If you look at this video and think this team isn't doing anything, I think you need to reevaluate your understanding of the word "effort."

[@jeffroward]

"It's not goodbye... it's see you later" is the best repurposed, purposeful punchline. You and your writers are incredible.

[@Onigirli]

That was so good

[@erictheredguy]

As a plumber in the midwest, I always recommend installing a reverse osmosis system for drinking water. Nitrates are so dangerous

[@LyonsM]

Thank you, as a plumber you know what you’re talking about and not just trying to sell something.

[@vera39440]

They're pretty easy to install and there are a lot of affordable options. I'm also in the Midwest, and I wouldn't be comfortable drinking my water without the filtration system. That's a lot of blind trust in people you shouldn't blindly trust

[@larryd6143]

Please read my comments about Oloton corn with nitrogen fixing bacteria.

[@JB-rp2xo]

RO is good on small scales, the issue is the concentrated waste stream created. As long as you are responsible about the disposal of that highly concentrated waste stream, it’s great. AIX resin is great too, but poses the same issue, disposal. That’s going to be the new crisis, getting rid of all the damage caused by 19th and 20th century irresponsibly.

[@mzaite]

I prefer my nitrates in sausage form, and my water clean.

[@HotPantsMcGee]

I live in Central IL and a DeKalb ad played before this video. ETA: We just had another major dust storm alert this week.

[@s.terris9537]

I suggest that every decision maker in the Corn industry read "The Worst Hard Time" by Timothy Egan. The story of the Dust Bowl is laid out in the most graphic way possible. The story of what led up to the Dust Bowl is a story about the worst lies being packaged as great opportunities for poor folks trying to make a living growing wheat, but finding no water. It is a cautionary tale, so dark I could not get all the way through it. Thanks John!

[@bezretmet]

they'll read it and wont care. they'll say after us the flood and will continue to do what they do

[@CatThatLostHisHat]

The problem is that corporations don't care. The Dust Bowl doesn't scare them, they'll just buy the land up and grift another way.

[@boredmonkee]

Teacher - OK kids. Field trip to the corn maze. Let me just collect those waiver…i mean permission slips.

[@DudeSolid]

They got lost and started a cult. Beware the one that walks behind the corn.

[@suespiria9574]

@@DudeSolid Thank you. I was dissapointed there wasn't a single Children of The Corn reference. I would be more scared of the children in the corn maze.

[@MCM214]

As a lifelong claustrophobic I noped out of those horrible corn maze trips.

[@TryingTBhappy]

Your video on modi in banned in India. Our dictator banned your video that you made on him. Please make more.

[@ecosta]

Dictators banning any truth about themselves? I'm shocked! Sarcasm aside, I'm glad you could watch it. I think there are more videos about Modi in this channel (assuming you can watch them).

[@illwill1991]

"Non-liquid gold" aka... just fucking gold.

[@bigjohnsbreakfastlog5819]

For all we know, Trump just watched a Velveeta commercial and got confused.

[@baardkopperud]

And remember, whatever Trump is saying, it probably sounded good, smart and insightful in his head... which is bloody scary to think about!

[@boRegah]

You mean non-non-solid gold?

[@lesliewolfe7643]

I'm thinking "gold on the cob" would have been a better direction to go, if he absolutely MUST have the word "gold" in there somewhere 🤔

[@chenzen1578]

Whenever I think people can't get dumber, someone brings up Pumpkin President.

[@Jul487]

The American corn is killing Latin American traditional corn. Latin American are losing red, blue and black & white. Even the purple and painted ones too. We need to protect the other corns to save traditional foods. Save the corn.

[@ryandalion8379]

Humans will destroy almost everything including ourselves and there's nothing we can do.

[@ZZealot]

This is very true and important.

[@Zatarra69]

Save the coooooooorn

[@victory8928]

Save diversity in our food. I never understand why only one of a diverse group of fruits are cultivated when plant diseases exist. Diversity is why we have bananas in the first place, it is why kiwis are still being distributed, it is why oranges are so good. If everything was just one single crop that stifles so much ecologically and otherwise

[@kingnaga619]

As an Iowan, I am VERY excited for this episode.

[@mattyrs4]

How do you feel now? This has been known for decades at this point, but the corn lobby was one of the biggest lobby groups in the world. It goes completely under the radar. They could grow enough hemp based ethanol for all of North America's needs on an farm the size of Long Island. Corn would require basically all farm lands, but there isn't enough water for it.

[@DavidLee27theDreamer]

Iowa native here :) Our obsession with the singular, beautiful monstrosity that is corn is unparalleled (or actually very parallel, so parallel that every row will never touch each other even if it went to the ends of the earth) compared to any of your other states' iconic symbols. Love the nostrils of Ringo especially for a nice place to chillax

[@rabaham]

Thank you HBO for highlighting such an important issue

[@lorettahiggins3717]

How can you not love this show??? It is not only informative, but absolutely f*cking hysterical!!! It must be drowning in creative, clever writers.

[@LMMusicL-t6w]

😂 I agree 100%.

[@yankeewog]

You obviously weren't around for the original Daily Show.

[@cleverusername9369]

why do you think John and co have so many Emmys? 19 wins and 25 nominations. This show is quality.

[@davik9003]

The original Daily Show was lame until Jon Stewart took it over. It was with Craig Kilborn, and nobody knows that other than Wikipedia 🤣

[@yankeewog]

@@davik9003 Touche 🤣

[@NoodlesExtraMSG]

That reporter's dedication to his craft, damn near choking himself, should be nominated the David Carradine award.

[@mechengr1731]

Almost more impressive than the dude who stripped naked to demonstrate torture techniques lol

[@megaultrasonic]

Damn near earned the Darwin Award!

[@whiskyjames4200]

A wealth of information. Thanks John!

[@XenoFireStar]

I'm pretty sure that I read somewhere that growing corn for ethanol is energy negative. Like, it takes more fuel to run the farm equipment, transport, and process the corn than you get back out of it. In terms of energy, it would be dramatically better to replace cornfields with solar farms.

[@boRegah]

_America!_ F***k yeah!

[@astrowuff]

That makes a lot of sense, incredibly dumb. It would just naturally die off if it wasn't for all of the subsidies and laws requiring it.

[@glennarnold3667]

Mostly the energy required to make ammonium nitrate, out of natural gas. That's also why it's CO2 positive.

[@brendasmart553]

Jon directly addressed this in this very video folks. Watch again. Yeah, it's baddd.

[@DiscoDigi786]

They implied that with the carbon footprint data.

[@CortexNewsService]

I live in Central Illinois just north of where that dust storm hit. He didn't quite dive into how bad it was on top of the seven killed. Dozens of injuries that overwhelmed the small towns nearby and shut down the direct interstate route between Chicago and St Louis for hours. And that's just the surface level of what it did here.

[@mrtophat12]

I'm so sorry. Nobody should live in Illinois.

[@Winspur1982]

I live in Chicago and remember when it happened. It was a very dry spring here and some gas stations burst into flames seemingly at random. (No, it was not ecoterrorists as I'm sure some would have you believe)

[@CortexNewsService]

@@Winspur1982 Springfield here. Since then we've had other dust storm warnings. Once it actually shut down I-72. And just this week, they had to put out an advisory because enough dust was being blown to affect visibility. It was noticeable even here in town.

[@jpe1]

16:02 the _second_ largest source of nitrogen runoff is suburban homeowners fertilizing their lawns. In the Chesapeake Bay specifically, some studies have concluded that lawn fertilizer runoff is the single largest source of nitrate pollution. Suburban lawns are killing our waterways.

[@burntorangehorn]

I always wonder if the numerous lawn/landscape people and homeowners who baby their lawns in my neighborhood have any inkling of why I'm giving them the side-eye. It's the environmental disaster of mowing twice a week, fertilizing their grass, using herbicides, and collecting grass to be shipped off to the local compost facility. My lawn may not look like a golf course, but literally the only thing I have to do for it is mow. Embrace the clover, friends.

[@jpe1]

@@burntorangehornI’ve gone one step further, on my one acre of suburban land I have barely 8,000 square feet of grass, over half the property is trees with full understory and no grass at all (right now mayapples and jack-in-the-pulpits are in bloom) and most of the rest of the land is beds of low-maintenance perennials and shrubs. I don’t water the grass _ever_ so August and September it usually goes dormant and I don’t have to mow at all. If the township allowed me to, I would have no grass whatsoever.

[@hanifarroisimukhlis5989]

@@burntorangehorn Pro tip: you can eat clover. (well not if you pour toxic chemicals onto it) It taste like any leafy vegetables (bland).

[@MusicfromMarrs]

@@jpe1 food and flora, not lawns! I say this as someone who grew up in Richmond, VA and now lives in Des Moines, IA. And as someone who just picked a sizable bow's worth of strawberries from my little patch. :)

[@minimegs27]

An interesting tidbit of American history & culture: the lawn as we know it came from 18th century French aristocracy. To have a sizeable portion of land used to grow absolutely nothing of value and simply "look pretty" was a way for the upper crust to thumb their noses at the plebians- essentially a giant 'f*** you, look how rich we are, we don't even farm this land, lol YOLO'. When the suburb was created in the States, we dragged this concept into the idea of prosperity, and the modern American lawn was born. Sadly, it's still considered a sign of wealth to have even a 25 square foot patch in front of your 3000 sq ft house even if your entire plot is only 3100 sq ft.

[@Dysiode]

I'm so grateful to live in the PNW where there are lots of small farms that grow a wide variety of crops and humanely raised livestock. It's such a shame that isn't the standard across the nation

[@adrianned4230]

Thank you for covering this. I found out about the lack of aide for smaller farms year's ago in a debate class and was so shocked. I hope we can change it.

[@DaveE99]

That pattern in government is not unusual in a variety of places

[@A54729]

I am so glad that this episode was made. I have seen so many small family farms in rural Washington and Oregon being eaten up and destroyed by great big commercial farms. It is absolutely heartbreaking. Someone needs to do something about these big corperate farms killing what was once a cornerstone of america. All of the little family farms would grow lots of things and sell them on the roadside or at farmers markets. These big farms take up all this land and then plant monochrops. There are serious concerns about how much more water these corporate operations are pulling from limited watertables. They use way more water than the little farms that were thete before. The water issue has reached a point where the state is even getting involved.

[@DanielDTUBWeinberger]

I support that reporter, for simply really hammering how major this problem is by do to himself what "we" are doing to fish.

[@soupdawhoop]

This is why I love this show. John always covers issues that are very important and affect millions but are often passed over for more attention grabbing stuff like politics and scandals. Excellent stuff!!!

[@Mama2CDHsurvivor]

My grandfather raised sweet corn. We harvested each fall. That corn, freshly picked and cooked, was the most delicious corn I’ve ever had in my life.

[@katiekane5247]

Almost impossible to find anymore 😢 How I miss the farm stands of Illinois in the 70s

[@mumlee4807]

@@katiekane5247 And the farm stands in Minnesota back then....

[@SpaceLordLono]

Well earned corn

[@sadboysolari4891]

I have been spreading the word about Corn for years and its nice for it to finally get some mainstream attention, sadly this may not cause any change but at least more people are aware of it now.

[@BenjaminRegen]

Raising awareness is key, so thank you for that. People care.

[@thelexicon7294]

Rusty Butz is an Ace Attorney name and I refuse to believe this person is real

[@lex7484]

Fr Phoenix Wright was somehow less subtle than that 💀

[@theresabu3000]

Butz is originally an german surname - meaning can be something you'd be frightened of, like a poltergeist or hobgoblin. Or an apple core, small room,... I'm from Germany and my last name is that. Crazy that it's mentioned in John Oliver's videos 🤣

[@justinfarmer3429]

I would say he could have changed his name because he liked the character, but he was around before the character existed.

[@deadbird3025]

I felt the same way when I found out my wife’s supervisor at Safeway was named Rex Beavers. Who does that to their kid?

[@leiajiang7877]

Yet he fucked up our lives and lead to blue fucking babies.

[@ChristineClose-d9z]

Wow I'm a head cook at a middle school how nice to hear someone appreciates what my team does it's so hard

[@johnchessant3012]

LastWeekTonight uploaded: Corn me: I am now interested in corn

[@phoenixnight9237]

I have been interested in corn for years; there was a lot of stuff I know about that they didn't have time to cover, but they brought some of the most massive issues to the public mind, so I am really happy about this -corn enthusiast

[@chimaxx]

Watch King Corn, the 2007 documentary that they included several clips from. It will tell you more, in its own entertaining way.

[@NorthCarolinaMomma]

Imagine being excited to watch John Oliver talk about corn because that’s where I’m at this morning.

[@mason96575]

I don’t have to imagine 😅

[@Killersam776]

I also appreciate that the news clip about the field trip “being your last” also had on the screen the phrase “cornucopia of fun”

[@JJ-kl7eq]

Thanks for this episode of Beavers and Butz Head

[@derkaiser420]

I live in Nebraska. Our Last Week Tonight Episode is finally upon us! All hail corn!

[@johngalt97]

Yes, Nebraska, and Illinois can have equal, if not higher billing concerning corn.

[@deadpocketss]

"Corn: Beans wanna be it, oats wanna fuck it." needs to be on a shirt.

[@mountaineergirl255]

I'm so glad someone is talking about farm subsidies & fraud, it's not spoken about enough. I know this episode is about corn but hopefully they'll circle back to that topic again someday.

[@notme2day]

Farm subsidies, gas subsidies, phara subsidies, big corporations subsidies ... all involve fraud with and by our government while paid for by us regular taxpayers. SMFH

[@mn0g0nm]

🚁 sorry gotta gooo⁰⁰⁰⁰

[@Sniperboy5551]

Well it’s not really fraud since it’s legal

[@notme2day]

@@Sniperboy5551 it's technically "legalized fraud" due to all the doublespeak in the way legislators write the bills.

[@buttonwizard6644]

I went to UK a few years ago and GOOD food was so cheap. $6 salad in USA was $2 there and it was FRESH! I read it was because UK subsidizes healthy FOOD and the US subsidizes corn which goes mostly to cows and high fructose corn syrup.

[@SnakeJiggs]

The ability to talk for 24 minutes and 53 seconds without saying the name M O N S A N T O but talk about "powerful interests" in an entertaining, interesting and educative way is honestly impressive

[@IndogaKirai]

Lawsuit

[@seyersusej8329]

Just sharing this along, Monsanto was bought by Bayer (which was shown in the beginning of the video).

[@jennifer2759]

The dust storms in central Illinois seem to be a new environmental issue in the area. It's like the modern era of the dust bowl. The fields used to have year round vegetation surrounding each field but in recent years much of that vegetation has been removed. That combined with drier conditions has led to a rapid increase in dust storms. Something that I don't remember being an issue up until about 2-3 years ago.

[@hammerth1421]

Yeah, you need to break up fields with frequent rows of trees to act as windcatchers. If you don't do that, you get dustbowl conditions.

[@MusicfromMarrs]

@@hammerth1421 yup - better for the soil specifically and the environment and farm in general.

[@BellaBellaElla]

Dust bowl was WAY worse but yeah, this is bad

[@MusicfromMarrs]

@@BellaBellaElla we're currently in an environmental situation that is a pre-cursor to a new dust bowl. Nobody (or only a minority) listened to sound farming practices back then, and only a minority are listening and acting now. Google "HOW THE DUST BOWL DISASTER COULD'VE BEEN AVOIDED - Grunge."

[@johngalt97]

Some guy from Iowa State University invented a dedicated small tractor for working those margins. He's a millionaire, now.

[@BurgermanForever-nh2vp]

Can we talk about how much food corporations THROW AWAY instead of donating? It's extremely evil

[@hanifarroisimukhlis5989]

Not just throwing them away, bleaching them. It took a special kind of evil to pour bleach onto perfectly fine food.

[@princessLilytea]

He did do a video about foodwaste 8 yeats ago. Which does also talk about how much company's throw away iirc

[@notme2day]

Can't get that even bigger tax write off if you donate instead of throwing it away.

[@veganbutcherhackepeter]

Even if you can't donate it anymore, it's better to turn it into natural gas or ethanol instead of throwing it away and deforesting the entire continent for growing crops to be turned into "BIOfuels" (oooh, super! It says "BIO", so it must be really green!)

[@thoughtlesskills]

​​@@notme2daythats it. Most companies view the hassle of donating without liability issues isn't worth what tiny break they might get. Its really that legality is the problem not so much restaurants themselves.

[@martindouglass3248]

“Knows it’s tied to suffering” - perfectly said.

[@SanchiPoovaya]

Hey Bill Maher, thanks for your great show on general elections in India. Have to leave this comment on this video since KZbin won't let me watch the other one from where I am. Thanks again, Bill Maher!

[@aakarshmaurya2265]

Is that video yet on?

[@Onigirli]

What the fuck are you on about, my man?

[@mzmendy]

The amount of ways the most wealthy among us find ways to take more than they need should, at some point, cease to amaze me.

[@lucase.2546]

Thanks John for spreading the word about nitrate leaching problems!! Farm country is in trouble

[@iowa506]

I love that corn is getting the coverage it deserves! I wish they would have mentioned how during corn years (where the main crop in the area is all corn) it affects the weather and makes it incredibly humid and more stormy 😂

[@johnnytownsend4204]

You educate, entertain, and advocate all at the same time. I never miss your new episodes.

[@CJScrol]

“This corn trip could be our last.” 😂👏

[@Darktan2112]

I was relieved to see John walking through the corn with eye protection. I was wincing watching the other guy with just his glasses, those corn leaves will slice your eyeball, like a papercut

[@cuda7133]

I live in a sugar beet area, same subsidy programs.... When the local beet farmer has a summer and a winter vacation home, and multiple vintage warbirds, you know something isn't right.

[@DaveE99]

What’s a warbird?

[@Schmitlauch]

@@DaveE99 A warbird is an old warplane.

[@burroamoroso]

Thank you John Oliver and HBO for entertaining me so much. You guys are the best.

[@jamestyndall529]

It's sad that we learn more from John Oliver and Last Week Tonight then we do from the news

[@chenzen1578]

It's not sad because John covers issues the main stream media doesn't. If MSM would, you'd have corn on every channel this week and nothing else. I see it more than a variety of information.

[@everythingmatters6308]

Try Jimmy Dore, Glenn Greenwald, and Russell Brand if you want to see what else you're missing.

[@TheGrammarPolice7]

*than. It's sad that you learn more from the Internet than you do from your grammar teachers.