Land use change in a biofuels hotspot: The case of Iowa, USA

Secchi, Silvia; Kurkalova, Lyubov A.; Gassman, Philip W.; Hart, Chad E.

doi:10.1016/j.biombioe.2010.08.047

Cited by 73 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…To date, the biofuel boom in the USA has relied almost exclusively on corn grain for ethanol production 82,83 . However, heavy reliance on corn has led to a range of environmental and conservation concerns, including increases in nitrogen and phosphorus contamination of water 84,85 , higher rates of soil erosion 86 , greater greenhouse gas emissions due to land conversion 87,88 , reductions in wildlife habitat and wildlife populations 89,90 , and declines in biological control of crop pests 91 . Various forms of perennial vegetation have been proposed as alternatives to corn grain for use as biofuel feedstocks, including trees, certain grasses and mixtures of multiple prairie species [92][93][94] .…”

Section: Identifying Trade-offs Among Agroecosystem Performance Indicmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using biodiversity to link agricultural productivity with environmental quality: Results from three field experiments in Iowa

Liebman

Helmers

Schulte

et al. 2013

Renew. Agric. Food Syst.

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Agriculture in the US Corn Belt is under increasing pressure to produce greater quantities of food, feed and fuel, while better protecting environmental quality. Key environmental problems in this region include water contamination by nutrients and herbicides emitted from cropland, a lack of non-agricultural habitat to support diverse communities of native plants and animals, and a high level of dependence on petrochemical energy in the dominant cropping systems. In addition, projected changes in climate for this region, which include increases in the proportion of precipitation coming from extreme events could make soil and water conservation in existing cropping systems more difficult. To address these challenges we have conducted three cropping systems projects in central Iowa: the Marsden Farm Cropping Systems experiment, the Sciencebased Trials of Row-crops Integrated with Prairies (STRIPs) experiment, and the Comparison of Biofuel Systems (COBS) experiment. Results from these experiments indicate that (1) diversification of the dominant corn-soybean rotation with small grains and forage legumes can permit substantial reductions in agrichemical and fossil hydrocarbon use without compromising yields or profitability; (2) conversion of small amounts of cropland to prairie buffer strips can provide disproportionately large improvements in soil and water conservation, nutrient retention, and densities of native plants and birds; and (3) native perennial species can generate large amounts of biofuel feedstocks and offer environmental benefits relative to corn-and soybean-based systems, including greater carbon inputs to soil and large reductions in nitrogen emissions to drainage water. Increasing biodiversity through the strategic integration of perennial plant species can be a viable strategy for reducing reliance on purchased inputs and for increasing agroecosystem health and resilience in the US Corn Belt. AbstractAgriculture in the US Corn Belt is under increasing pressure to produce greater quantities of food, feed and fuel, while better protecting environmental quality. Key environmental problems in this region include water contamination by nutrients and herbicides emitted from cropland, a lack of non-agricultural habitat to support diverse communities of native plants and animals, and a high level of dependence on petrochemical energy in the dominant cropping systems. In addition, projected changes in climate for this region, which include increases in the proportion of precipitation coming from extreme events could make soil and water conservation in existing cropping systems more difficult. To address these challenges we have conducted three cropping systems projects in central Iowa: the Marsden Farm Cropping Systems experiment, the Science-based Trials of Row-crops Integrated with Prairies (STRIPs) experiment, and the Comparison of Biofuel Systems (COBS) experiment. Results from these experiments indicate that (1) diversification of the dominant corn-soybean rotation with small grains and fo...

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Section: Identifying Trade-offs Among Agroecosystem Performance Indicmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using biodiversity to link agricultural productivity with environmental quality: Results from three field experiments in Iowa

Liebman

Helmers

Schulte

et al. 2013

Renew. Agric. Food Syst.

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“…Iowa has attracted a lot of attention from researchers, given the importance of corn and ethanol production in the state. Secchi, Kurkalova, Gassman, and Hart (2011) produce a baseline model of crop rotations for the state based on the USDA National Agricultural Statistical Service (NASS) Cropland Data Layer (CDL) for a series of years and an understanding of optimal management practices under given corn price regimes. They predict changes in LULC, crop rotation, and tillage practice, including the environmental impact of these choices, across the state under different price scenarios.…”

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confidence: 99%

Ethanol plant location and intensification vs. extensification of corn cropping in Kansas

Brown¹,

Hanley²,

Bergtold³

et al. 2014

Applied Geography

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Farmers' cropping decisions are a product of a complex mix of socio-economic, cultural, and natural environments in which factors operating at a number of different spatial scales affect how farmers ultimately decide to use their land in any given year or over a set of years. Some environmentalists are concerned that increased demand for corn driven by ethanol production is leading to conversion of non-cropland into corn production (which we label as "extensification"). Ethanol industry advocates counter that more than enough corn supply comes from crop switching to corn and increased yields (which we label as "intensification"). In this study, we determine whether either response to corn demand --intensification or extensification --is supported. This is determined through an analysis of land-use/land-cover (LULC) data that covers the state of Kansas and a measure of a corn demand shifter related to ethanol production --distance to the closest ethanol plant --between 2007 and 2009.

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“…The parcel information file contains land parcel specific data about acreage, CSR, yield potential for switchgrass, and land cover types for the previous two years. These data were used to construct net returns for each field in the watershed for each crop rotation [6]. In addition, a parameter file characterizing farmer agents' attitudes towards biofuel crop production (as in Table 1) is a necessary input into this model.…”

Section: Input Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Their results showed that an increase in corn acreage by 14.4% could result in increase in N loadings to the watershed by 5.4% and P loadings by 4.1%. Another similar study was conducted to investigate the impacts of different corn price scenarios on crop rotation patterns and environmental consequences in Iowa, USA, by integrating an economic model and the edge of field environmental impact model EPIC (Environmental Policy Integrated Climate) [6]. The authors found that sustained high corn prices might result in continuous corn in crop rotation patterns on both current cropland and CRP (Conservation Reserve Program) land.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating Impacts of Alternative Crop Market Scenarios on Land Use Change with an Agent-Based Model

Ding

Bennett

Secchi

2015

Land

Self Cite

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Abstract:We developed an agent-based model (ABM) to simulate farmers' decisions on crop type and fertilizer application in response to commodity and biofuel crop prices. Farm profit maximization constrained by farmers' profit expectations for land committed to biofuel crop production was used as the decision rule. Empirical parameters characterizing farmers' profit expectations were derived from an agricultural landowners and operators survey and integrated in the ABM. The integration of crop production cost models and the survey information in the ABM is critical to producing simulations that can provide realistic insights into agricultural land use planning and policy making. Model simulations were run with historical market prices and alternative market scenarios for corn price, soybean to corn price ratio, switchgrass price, and switchgrass to corn stover ratio. The results of the comparison between simulated cropland percentage and crop rotations with satellite-based land cover data suggest that farmers may be underestimating the effects that continuous corn production has on yields. The simulation results for alternative market scenarios based on a survey of agricultural land owners and operators in the Clear Creek Watershed in eastern Iowa show that farmers see cellulosic biofuel feedstock production in the form of perennial grasses or corn stover as a more risky enterprise than their current crop production systems, likely because of market and production risks and lock in effects. As a result farmers do not follow a simple farm-profit maximization rule. OPEN ACCESSLand 2015, 4 1111 Keywords: agent-based model; land use change; agricultural land owners and operators survey; commodity and biofuel crop market scenarios

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Land use change in a biofuels hotspot: The case of Iowa, USA

Cited by 73 publications

References 35 publications

Using biodiversity to link agricultural productivity with environmental quality: Results from three field experiments in Iowa

Using biodiversity to link agricultural productivity with environmental quality: Results from three field experiments in Iowa

Ethanol plant location and intensification vs. extensification of corn cropping in Kansas

Investigating Impacts of Alternative Crop Market Scenarios on Land Use Change with an Agent-Based Model

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