The Naylor Curve

In the second chapter of The Omnivore's Dilemma, Michael Pollan discusses the paradoxical nature of corn prices in Iowa. He states that it "costs roughly $2.50 to grow a bushel of Iowa corn [while]...in October 2005 Iowa grain elevators were paying $1.45" (53). The production of corn increases every year in order for farmers to pay for their losses, but this results in a decreased price of corn. Therefore, farmers tend to grow even more corn - trapping themselves in a never-ending cycle. This phenomenon is called the Naylor Curve. Pollan describes the reason for this unusual economic activity by stating that the food demand is not elastic. People will eat the same amount of food, no matter what the supply is. Therefore, there is often an excess supply of corn. This ultimately drives the prices down, putting farmers into deeper debt. Since farmers desire to increase their production, they often invest in new technology to raise their yield. However, the technology is usually very expensive, forcing farmers into further poverty. George Naylor gives an example of a fellow farmer, Billy, who is in this situation and is "in debt up to his eyeballs" (55). However, Billy is only occupied with his yield and bragging rights; he ignores the serious consequences of his actions. He does not realize the problems associated with the production of corn.


When reading this chapter, I thought it was really interesting how the laws of economics do not apply to the production of corn. It surprised me that farmers would continue to grow corn, despite knowing that prices will decrease even more. Curious about the current corn production, I looked on the internet and found this graph: http://www.agmanager.info/livestock/marketing/graphs/Crops/Corn/cornprod.html. In the past six years, once can see a dramatic increase in the production of corn. This graph made me question: Will there ever be a point when production can no longer increase? There has to be a point when production cannot be any more efficient, so what will happen to farmers at that time? Also, I understand that farmers have to increase production to sustain their families and their standards of living, but do many of them leave their work to look for other jobs? Or are they stuck forever in this never-ending cycle?


Pollan, Michael. The Omnivore's Dilemma. New York: Penguin Books, 2007.