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Energy Analyses of Forage Production Systems^1,2,3,

US Department of Agriculture and the University of Minnesota St. Paul, 55108

Abstract

Energy conservation holds potential for reducing agriculture's needs for fossil fuels, but little research designed to reduce use of fossil fuels in animal and crop production is underway. About 136 scientist-years, 1.2% of the publicly-funded agricultural research effort, were devoted to energy use and conservation research in 1977. Of this total, 17.5 scientist-years were devoted specifically to energy research with livestock. Despite this modest national effort, several energy analyses of forage production systems have shown substantial differences in efficiency of energy utilization. These differences are attributable to the yield potential of the crop species, to the kinds and amounts of plant nutrients applied, to dependence upon irrigation and to the method of harvest and preservation of the forage. Investigations with models and static energy audits have shown that the energy efficiency of producing the forage affects the efficiency of energy utilization in different systems of livestock production. Use of energy-efficient forage-animal systems, or the development of new systems, may spare agriculture some of the impact of energy scarcity.

¹ Invitational paper presented at the Symposium on "Production and Utilization of Forages and Fibrous Feeds," held on July 31, 1979, during the 71st Annu. Meet. ASAS, Univ. of Arizona, Tucson.

² The following donors are gratefully acknowledged for their financial support of the program: Ag Way, Box 1333, Syracuse, NY; American Colloid Co., Skokie, IL; A. O. Smith, Harvestore Products, Inc., 550 West Algonquin Road, Arlington Heights, IL; Borden Inc.-Smith-Douglas Div., Nutritional Research Laboratory, RR1, Elgin, IL; Iowa Limestone Co., Des Moines, IA; and Occidental Chemical Co., Feed Products Div., Houston, TX. Publication of this paper was sponsored by the SEA, USDA, Administration Building, Washington, DC.

³ Cooperative investigation of the USDA-ARS and the Minnesota Agr. Exp. Sta. (Scientific Journal Series Paper No. 10,919).

⁴ Plant Physiologist and Professor of Agronomy.