IN WHAT WAYS IS OIL USED ON FARMS? - agricultural use

BY MARGARET

1. How does oil improve the efficiency of farming?

The food system uses 19 percent of the total fossil fuel in the United States every year.  Seven percent of this is used for production.  Another seven percent is used for processing and packaging food, while the last five percent is used for distribution.  As a comparison, the automobile industry in the United States uses 24 percent of the total fossil energy, not much more than farming food industry.  The average rate of fossil fuel used in conventional crop production is 107 gallons per acre.  One third of this is used in fertilizers, another third for equipment production and maintenance, and the remaining third for pesticides.  Nitrogen fertilizers and pesticides in particular lead to better results.  Rising prices for fossil fuels are creating problems for farms.  The solution to this, or at least a better option, would be to go organic. It improves efficiency and reduces dependence on fossil fuels. 

     2.  Are we too dependent on oil to operate farms?

The answer is yes.  Right now, if farms go without oil, we wouldn’t be able to operate.  Energy dependence has grown steadily with new production techniques.  We use high-yielding seeds, which means more production and more to harvest.  Add fertilizers and pesticides into the mix, and the numbers grow even bigger.  The following are some background facts about how the dependence on oil for farming has changed; if we were to grow one hectare of corn by hand, it would take 1200 hours of human labor.  On the other hand, if we grew the same amount on a conventional farm, it would take only 30 hours of labor.  This shows how attractive it is to use conventional techniques.  However, it also comes with a price.  With the decline of fossil feuls, prices go up on oil, fuel, and fertilizer.  Farmers can’t afford it.  The only solution is to transition into organic techniques.

      3. What are examples of farm practices that require oil?

             - tractors/fertilizers

There are many ways farming uses oil in their practices.  Aside from the obvious ways such as fertilizers and pesticides, we overlook the oil that is used in making these inputs.  We also use tractors and other equipment that require oil to manufacture, operate, and maintain.  In the past, we relied more on human labor for farming.  In the 1940s to the 1970s, the Green Revolution changed farming in a significant way.  It was a series of research, development, and technological initiatives related to improving farming.  During this time, scientists developed high-yielding varieties of cereal grain, suggested better management techniques, and created hybridized seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides.  With all this, you can truly see how much oil has affected farms, and this is just farms in the United States.  Oil is big, and is leaving us.  We need to prepare.

http://www.organic-center.org/reportfiles/EnergyExecSummary.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Revolution