Date of Award

1-1-2015

Document Type

Masters Thesis

Degree Name

M.A.

Organizational Unit

College of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences

First Advisor

Chiara Piovani, Ph.D.

Second Advisor

Andrew Goetz

Third Advisor

Markus Schneider

Fourth Advisor

Tracy Mott

Keywords

Ethanol, Fuel savings, Sustainable farming

Abstract

The subsidization of corn-ethanol has proven to not live up to the original promises made when it was promoted as gasoline additive. With research pointing to ethanol as a source of increased greenhouse gases emissions and other pollution while merely changing energy consumption, not decreasing it, an alternative that achieves the original goals of is sought. I propose that sustainable farming practices have the ability to decrease the United States’ dependence on fossil fuels while decreasing emissions and pollution related to farming. By looking at the adoption of 3 year rotations, fertilizer banding, and zero tillage farming in Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, and Minnesota, I find a significant decrease in energy consumption and pesticide, herbicide, and synthetic fertilizer use through decrease in field operation and conservation of soil tilth. The adoption of these sustainable practices in these four states has the ability to conserve the energy equivalent of over 1.5 billion gallons of diesel fuel per year. Current promotion of diverse cropping systems and minimal tillage through policy by the United States Department of Agriculture shows that these sustainable farming practices are applicable in other regions throughout the United States.

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

Rights Holder

Brandon John Weiland

Provenance

Received from ProQuest

File Format

application/pdf

Language

en

File Size

75 p.

Discipline

Agriculture economics, Energy

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