Reducing Fossil Fuel Energy Use In Agriculture

M.H. Entz, R.H. Gulden, C. Halde, K.C. Bamford, and J.R. Thiessen Martens
Department of Plant Science, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, R3T 2N2

Introduction Scenario 2. Adding perennial forage hay to a Scenario 4. Organic low-till rotation at Carman
no-till grain rotation An organic rotation, featuring legume green manure crops for N supply,
An important goal in agriculture is to grazing for nutrient cycling and cash flow, and low-till green manure
reduce fossil fuel use. Canadian The rotation with a management, allows for a 65% reduction in energy use. Seed costs are
scientists have documented energy perennial forage phase increased due to use of cover crops. View crop yields for this rotation at
use coefficients for crop production allows for a 34% reduction www.umanitoba.ca/outreach/naturalagriculture/articles/fieldlab.html.
inputs (eg., Nagy, 1999; Zentner et al. in energy use, mainly less Energy budget (MJ/ha)
2004) and this knowledge has enabled fertilizer N energy. N
fertilizer needs are
Crop inputs Standard Organic* Percent change due to organic
detailed studies on fossil fuel N fertilizer 3886 0 100
reduced but hay harvest
consumption in different cropping P fertilizer 382 200** 48
operations increase
systems (eg., Hoeppner et al., 2005). energy demands. Pesticides 312 0 100
Machinery 551 450 19
Energy budget (MJ/ha) Fuel/lub. 1197 1050 12
Energy use scenarios Hayed Percent change due Seed 658 750 -13
Crop inputs Standard perennial* to perennial Total 6986 2450 65
In this project, we compare the fossil fuel energy inputs in four high N fertilizer 3886 1000 74 *Rotation: Green manure (grazed) – wheat – soybean – green manure – flax – fall rye.
yield crop production systems. In all cases, the systems are P fertilizer 382 450 -4 **Energy for compost application
compared to a conventional-till grain farm. The unit of energy used Pesticides 312 427 -36
in this study is megajoules per hectare. One megajoule is Machinery 551 870 -57
approximately equal to the energy contained in one ounce of Fuel/lub. 1197 1012 15
gasoline. The energy in these budgets includes all energy in the Seed 658 600 9
process, for example, energy to make the steel for the farm
Total 6986 4609 34
machinery and energy to manufacture fertilizer and pesticides
*Rotation: Alfalfa/grass hay (3 yr) – wheat or canola – flax – pulse – oats
(Nagy, 1999).

Scenario 1. Energy savings from no-till farming Scenario 3. Grazing the forage instead of
haying Conclusions
Two commercial farms were
compared for energy use over a
! Cropping systems that rely on mineral fertilizer N have limited
By grazing the
6 year period (Gulden and Entz, perennial forage potential for energy savings.
1996). The standard farm is phase instead of ! Conventional no-till systems provide only modest improvements in
located in the Red River Valley haying, the energy energy use.
while the no-till farm is located savings increase ! Replacing N fertilizer with legume N is the single most important
in western Manitoba. The from 34% to 43%. factor in fossil fuel energy use reduction.
rotation in both cases is: Oat – Savings are due to ! A well designed organic system uses only 35% as much fossil fuel
pea – wheat – flax. Results elimination of forage energy as conventional farming systems.
showed that no-till provided a harvest energy.
13% reduction in energy use. ! Agronomists and farmers interested in reducing fossil fuel use
should focus on legume pasture-based and organic farming
Energy budget (MJ/ha) Energy budget (MJ/ha)
systems.
Standard Percent change in energy Grazed Percent change due
Crop inputs system No-till budget due to no-till Crop inputs Standard perennial* to grazed perennial
N fertilizer 3886 1000 74 References
N fertilizer 3886 3530 9
P fertilizer 382 365 4 P fertilizer 382 200 52 Gulden, R.H. and M.H. Entz. 1996. Energy Use and Carbon Release by Manufactured
Pesticides 312 427 -36 Pesticides 312 427 -36 Inputs in Crop Production. Available on-line: http://umanitoba.ca/outreach/
naturalagriculture/articles/energy.html.
Machinery 551 370 33 Machinery 551 370 67 Hoeppner, J.W., M.H. Entz, B.G. McConkey, R.P. Zentner and C.N. Nagy. 2005.
Fuel/lub. 1197 762 36 Fuel/lub. 1197 400 33 Energy efficiency in two Canadian organic and conventional crop production systems.
Seed 658 658 0 Seed 658 600 91 Renewable Ag and Food Systems 21:60-67.
Nagy, C. N. 1999. Energy coefficients for agricultural inputs in western Canada. Centre
Total 6986 6112 13 Total 6986 2997 43 for Studies in Agriculture, Law and the Environment. University of Saskatchewan.
Rotation: Oat – pea – wheat – flax *Rotation: Birdsfoot trefoil/grass (3 yr) – wheat or canola – flax – pulse – oats Zentner et al. 2004. Soil and Tillage Research 77:125-136.