clipped from www.desmoinesregister.com

Beltsville, Md. - For a peek at what the future holds for agriculture, go to the Agriculture Department's sprawling research campus outside the nation's capital and check out the stainless steel chambers in Building 10.

Resembling oversized refrigerators, the chambers simulate the atmospheric conditions plants could experience in coming decades. Inside the chambers, scientists are growing stands of both wild and conventional varieties of rice to see how they respond.

Stalks of wild rice are protruding from the chamber that simulates the carbon dioxide levels projected for 2030. After just three weeks, the wild rice plants have grown 3 to 4 feet tall - a foot more than they do in the chamber simulating today's atmosphere - and have filled the chamber to overflowing.