Saving Fuel on the Farm by Making Hay
A new look at crop rotation could cut energy use for agriculture
How much fuel went into producing the food on your plate? Chances are, it was a lot more energy than you will ever get out of eating that meal.
By some estimates, it takes about 10 calories of fossil fuels to get each calorie of food from farm to fork in the American food system. But it doesn’t have to be that way, according to a study published Monday in the May/June edition of Agronomy Journal.
(See related, “FUTURE FARMS: High-Rise, Beach Pod, and Pyramid Pictures”)
Farmers can slash their fossil fuel use, while still growing bumper crops and turning a profit—all with the help of a little more crop rotation, concluded the team of researchers from Iowa State University after
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