Sustainability in Agriculture

Perhaps no group is as conscientious of the need to protect our environment as the agriculture producers who count on it daily for their livelihood and the future of their children. Just as technology and production improvements are enhancing the efficiency of the ethanol industry, technology and changes in crop production techniques are improving productivity and the sustainability of agriculture.

Ethanol is a renewable fuel choice that continues to guide America towards energy independence. Putting ethanol in your vehicle is the quickest and easiest way to reduce your impact on the environment.

CONSERVATION STRATEGIES

Protection of soil and water is the ultimate goal of sustainable growing practices and agriculture's focus on conservation has changed dramatically in the last 20 years. There are huge benefits of no-till the first being it requires the farmer to make fewer trips across the field. This saves time and reduces fuel costs, which are both an environmental attribute as well as a cost-benefit attribute. In addition, run-off is an important issue in agriculture because of the fertilizer and chemicals that are in the soil. By leaving residues in the field, less erosion takes place reducing soil run-off and the chance that chemicals will reach the water supply.

• Conservation tillage, or no-till, is a system of crop production with little or no tillage. It increases the residue from the crop that remains in the field after harvest through planting. This results in increased natural recycling of crop residues and helps to reduce erosion and decrease run-off issues. No-till techniques are used on 38 percent (109 million acres) of all U.S. cropland (293 million planted acres).
• In the Great Plains, continuous no-till conserves 2—4" of soil moisture annually when compared to intensive tillage systems. This technique enables slower evaporation, thus retaining better soil moisture. The improved soil structure also reduces compaction, enabling plant roots to be stronger and healthier.
• Reducing soil erosion also reduces phosphorous and can reduce pesticide movement. In addition, it reduces the risk of nutrients escaping the soil by increasing nutrient availability and absorption by plant roots.
• Simple practices like switching from conventional to conservation tillage have reduced rainfall runoff by more than 60 percent and soil loss by more than 90 percent. The Natural Resources Conservation Services National Resources Inventory (NRI) shows that between 1982 and 2003, conservation practices implemented by producers have reduced soil erosion from rainfall and runoff by 42 percent and soil erosion due to wind by 44 percent.

CROP PRODUCTION TECHNIQUES

Though the naysayers lambaste agriculture producers for everything from erosion to fertilizer runoff and its "huge" carbon footprint, a close look at conservation efforts and production practices implemented over the past 20 years paints a much different picture.

• Practices such as contour farming, grass waterways, terraces, bufferstrips, wetlands, and tree plantings for windbreaks are on the list of conservation practices found on many farms across the United States.
• No-till farming and new techniques for the placement and timing of fertilizer application help ensure the right nutrients are placed for easy access by the plant at the most appropriate times. These improvements increase productivity while reducing soil losses and the overuse of nutrients. In fact, by efficiently managing nutrient application, producers are raising more corn on fewer acres with less fertilizer.
• New technologies and improved equipment efficiencies are also reducing agriculture's need for petroleum fuels. In fact, the switch from conservation tillage to no-till is conserving an estimated 160 million to 280 million gallons of diesel fuel per year, in addition to lowering fuel emissions.
• Integrated pest management (IPM) practices have enhanced crop production while reducing the need for tillage to control weeds and pesticides to control insects. IPM involves a combination of practices for prevention, avoidance, monitoring and suppression of weeds, insects, diseases and other pests.

AGRICULTURAL EQUIPMENT ADVANCES

Extensive technological advances to agricultural equipment are also enhancing agricultural sustainability and productivity. From the use of biofuels to GPS-based auto-steer technologies, equipment manufacturers are helping producers grow more food, fiber and fuel more efficiently.

• Major manufacturers of diesel-powered farm tractors, combines and application equipment, including John Deere, Case IH, Massey Ferguson, Kubota, and AGCO have endorsed the use of B2 biodiesel in their diesel engines. These companies also are offering the new Tier III engines to reduce emissions and offer improved fuel economy.
• GPS-based auto-steer technology, computerized machine controls and other technologies help producers reduce overlaps, minimize trips through the field and accurately apply crop production products which reduces fuel and product use.
• In its last Producer Attitudes Survey of soybean farmers (Feb. 2008), the United Soybean Board/Soybean Checkoff found 57 percent of U.S. soybean farmers indicate they use biodiesel on their farms. That's up from 23 percent in 2002. Farmers are one of the largest users of E85 and flex-fuel vehicles as well.
• A U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Department of Energy (DOE) study shows soy-based biodiesel has a 78 percent carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction. This study takes into account everything from planting the soybeans to delivering biodiesel to the pump. A 2007 update to the study found that for every unit of fossil energy it takes to make biodiesel, 3.5 units of energy are gained.

HYBRID ADVANCEMENTS

Food. Fuel. Today's farmers have been called upon to produce crops, like corn and sorghum for food and fuel. They have risen to the challenge. With a record corn harvest year in 2007, while using the least amount of land for production in U.S. history, farmers are growing crops for fueling our bodies, cars and economy.

• With the help of biotechnology, U.S. corn growers have improved yield and production significantly. In 1995, the last planting year before the introduction of biotech corn varieties, the U.S. corn yield was on average 113.5 bushels per acre. In 2007, corn production had risen to 151.1 bushels per acre. American farmers grew 33 percent more corn last year than they did just 12 years ago.
• Companies like Syngenta, Monsanto and Pioneer continue to develop new plant technologies that are resistant to drought and disease. This increases not only profitability while protecting the soil, but has reduced water needs by almost half from approximately 30 inches of rain per growing season to around 15 inches per growing season.
• When planting corn crops for ethanol production, not all hybrids are created equal. Seed companies are researching and developing hybrids better suited to ethanol production. These hybrids increase the starch output which increases the bushel to ethanol ratio, as well as have traits that better help enzymes convert the starch to sugar, saving time and money. Farmers across the country are testing these hybrids from companies such as Monsanto, Syngenta and Pioneer in the fields and their local ethanol plant is testing the hybrid in production.
• The agricultural industry continues to invest in sustainability improvements with groups such as the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program. Since 1988, SARE has helped advance farming systems that are profitable, environmentally sound and good for communities through a nationwide research and education grants program.

WATER CONSERVATION

Water is life. This statement is particularly germane to agriculture and ultimately the ethanol industry – both industries require water for optimum productivity. Though critics are attempting to muddy the waters surrounding water use by these industries, many of their claims are wet. Agriculture and the ethanol industry are doing much to reduce their water use.

• In the United States, 96 percent of corn used for ethanol is not irrigated and improved irrigation techniques are reducing the amount of water used for crop production. By understanding plant needs and improving irrigation timing and water distribution efficiency, total water usage is being reduced. While it takes an estimated 350,000 gallons per acre to produce a 200-bushel corn yield, 684,000 gallons of water is needed per acre per year to irrigate the average golf course. Companies like Valmont Industries have developed irrigation systems that more effectively reach the plant root resulting in less evaporation and run-off and ultimately reduces the amount of water needed to properly hydrate a crop.
• A 10 percent increase in yield during time of drought? Absolutely. Monsanto has spent countless hours researching hybrids that will perform during drought conditions. Their soon-to-market drought product should offer producers one way to decrease agriculture's impact on water resources. This is extremely important from both a sustainability and economic standpoint; each year agricultural interests use about 70 percent of the world’s fresh water supply.

CONSERVATION STRATEGIES

The past year brought a more general consensus among scientists worldwide that not only does global climate change exist, but if we don't take immediate action to reverse the trend, we will lose precious resources, ecosystems and species. Carbon dioxide (CO₂) is one of the largest contributors to global climate change. As such, many policies are being put into place to reduce CO₂ worldwide. Agriculture has some unique opportunities to help achieve reduction goals.

• The soil is a huge storehouse of carbon. No-till or tearing up the soil stimulates the activities of microorganisms and exposes the humus to oxygen and the sun. These forces act to destroy the organic carbon and release CO₂ into the atmosphere. On a world-wide basis, from the time agriculture began, it is estimated that soil has contributed between 55 and 878 billion tons of CO₂ to the atmosphere. Up until the late 1950s, tillage (plowing) released more CO₂ into the atmosphere than all the burning of oil and coal in history. The good news — theoretically, American soils could soak up more than 100 million tons of carbon annually. That’s enough to offset the emissions from half of the cars in the country.
• Many farmers are looking at "carbon farming" as a way of not only reducing CO₂ output, but as a way to increase profits. When using no-till practices, CO₂ is not emitted but is actually stored in the soil. This is known as "carbon farming." Several programs have been developed that facilitate the buying and selling of carbon credits between farmers and large companies. Farmers receive carbon credits for storing carbon in the soil. The credits are then aggregated and sold to companies wanting to reduce emissions. Two programs of note are being implemented by the Iowa Farm Bureau and North Dakota Farmers Union.
• There are other ways to store CO₂ in addition to no-till farming, including converting cropland to grassland or trees, restoring wetlands, improving rangeland, planting cover crops or conversation buffers (such as trees), and on-farm methane digesters. Methane digestion of manure and other feed-stocks is of special interest because one ton of methane converts to 18.25 tons of CO₂ credits on the Chicago Climate Exchange. A typical ton of CO₂ sells between $3 to $5. Many farmers are also working on projects in conjunction with ethanol plants to sequester and then convert methane into energy to fuel the production process.