An Assessment of Direct on-Farm Energy Use for High Value Grain Crops Grown under Different Farming Practices in Australia

Tek Maraseni, Guangnan Chen, Thomas Banhazi, Jochen Bundschuh and Talal Yusaf
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Tek Maraseni: Institute for Agriculture and the Environment, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Queensland 4350, Australia
Guangnan Chen: Institute for Agriculture and the Environment, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Queensland 4350, Australia
Thomas Banhazi: Institute for Agriculture and the Environment, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Queensland 4350, Australia
Jochen Bundschuh: Institute for Agriculture and the Environment, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Queensland 4350, Australia
Talal Yusaf: Institute for Agriculture and the Environment, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Queensland 4350, Australia

Energies, 2015, vol. 8, issue 11, 1-14

Abstract: Several studies have quantified the energy consumption associated with crop production in various countries. However, these studies have not compared the energy consumption from a broad range of farming practices currently in practice, such as zero tillage, conventional tillage and irrigated farming systems. This study examines direct on-farm energy use for high value grain crops grown under different farming practices in Australia. Grain farming processes are identified and “typical” farming operation data are collected from several sources, including published and unpublished literature, as well as expert interviews. The direct on-farm energy uses are assessed for 27 scenarios, including three high value grain crops?wheat, barley and sorghum?for three regions (Northern, Southern and Western Australia) under three farming conditions with both dryland (both for conventional and zero-tillage) and irrigated conditions. It is found that energy requirement for farming operations is directly related to the intensity and frequency of farming operations, which in turn is related to tillage practices, soil types, irrigation systems, local climate, and crop types. Among the three studied regions, Western Australia requires less direct on-farm energy for each crop, mainly due to the easily workable sandy soils and adoption of zero tillage systems. In irrigated crops, irrigation energy remains a major contributor to the total on-farm energy demand, accounting for up to 85% of total energy use.

Keywords: grain industry; on-farm energy; irrigation energy; zero tillage; conventional tillage (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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