ENERGY USE IN U.S.
AGRICULTURE: AN OVERVIEW
Greta Raser and Madeline Silecchia*
INTRODUCTION
The agricultural industry in the United States relies on a variety of tools and methods to
accommodate the intensive and highly efficient production processes considered necessary to
meet current demand. Farms implement energy-intensive practices such as machinery use,
transportation, and pesticides and other chemical inputs to efficiently produce large quantities of
quality crops or livestock products. In 2012 alone, the U.S. agriculture industry used about 800
trillion British Thermal Units (BTU) of energy.1 The hidden costs of efficient agricultural
production include the impacts of the fossil-fuel based energy that is used to produce our
everyday foods.
Energy use in agriculture is classified as either direct or indirect energy use. Direct energy use is
the consumption and use of fuels on the farm. These are very clearly seen on farms at the time
of production and include most commonly propane, natural gas, electricity, and distillate fuels
(diesel).2 Indirect energy use is the use of fuels to make products that will later be used on farms.
This use of energy is much less obvious as a contribution to agricultural energy consumption
since it is not directly consumed on the farm. However, because the agricultural process includes
any aspect that plays a role in bringing the finished product to market, an accurate assessment of
energy use in agriculture will include indirect energy use.3
Energy is consumed in four general phases of agricultural production: agriculture, fertilizer
production, transportation, and processing. Agriculture is the growing and harvesting of crops
and the care and slaughter of livestock. Transportation is the process of sending agricultural
products by any means of transportation to the next step of production. Processing is needed for
food that is not able to be consumed directly after leaving the farm. Additionally, processing
often requires additional transportation to processing facilities. Lastly, food and other
agricultural products go through the handling phase. At this point food and products are
packaged, canned and sold into the market.4
*
Clean Energy Advocacy Interns, Institute for Energy and the Environment, Vermont Law School, 2020
1
Susan Hicks, U.S. Energy Information Admin., Energy For Growing And Harvesting Crops is a Large Component
of Farm Operating Costs, https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=18431.
2
U.S. Energy Information Admin., Glossary, https://www.eia.gov/tools/glossary/index.php?id=distillate.
3
Susan Hicks, supra note 1.
4
American Food Production Requires More Energy than You'd Think, Save On Energy Blog (Dec. 6, 2019),
www.saveonenergy.com/learning-center/post/american-food-production-requires-energy/.
The agricultural industry is a complex system with advanced technology and farming practices
that consume a large amount of energy.5 For example, 4% of California electricity consumption
is used in agriculture and 5% of the state’s natural gas use is attributable to food production.6
The United States uses a staggering amount of fossil fuels to produce foods like vegetables, milk
and meat, resulting in the large carbon footprint left by U.S. food production. Extreme energy
use exists at all levels of the farming industry from small organic farms to large industrial farms.
DIRECT ENERGY
While every species of plant and animal has its own needs, it may require more uses of energy,
such as needing extra care or more fertilizers. Direct energy use is the most obvious use of
energy in agriculture. Direct energy is the development and consumption of energy within the
inner workings of an entity and its activities, structures, as well as upkeep.7 Direct energy use
can be from any type of renewable or non-renewable energy. However, the majority of energy
used on U.S. farms is non-renewable energy such as diesel, electricity liquefied petroleum,
natural gas and gasoline.8
The amount of energy used directly on farms is evident in the large amounts of money spent on
energy use in both crop and livestock industries. The average expenditures of agriculture can be
analyzed to begin understanding how much these industries are investing in their energy
consumption. First, 2012 data reported by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)
indicates that crop farms consume more energy than livestock farms in every energy source
category.9
5
Agriculture and Energy Consumption, https://foodprint.org/issues/agriculture-energy-consumption/#easy-footnote-
bottom-4-1293 (last visited July 26, 2020).
6
California Energy Commission, Energy in Agriculture Program (2017),
http://www.energy.ca.gov/process/agriculture/; see also Emma G. Fitzsimmons, Tap Water Ban for Toledo
Residents, The New York Times (August 3, 2014), https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/04/us/toledo-faces-second-
day-of-water-ban.html?_r=0.
7
Direct and Indirect Energy Consumption by Source, FenRIAM 1 (July 18, 2020), www.fenriam.eu/direct-and-
indirect-energy-consumption-by-source.html.
8
Id.
9
Susan Hicks, supra note 1.
2
Second, the expenditures on agricultural energy use are informative. For context, the total U.S.
expenditure on fuel in 2017 was $12,000,000. This number consists of both indirect and direct
energy sources.10 Fuel is 3.3% of the agriculture's total overall expenditures.11
Crops use an average $8,511 per farm on fuel and livestock spend an average of 3,906 per farm.
Crop farms are going to be using more tractors, self-propelled, and farm machinery than
livestock farms therefore it makes sense for them to be spending more on these objects as well.
Crops on average spend $9,139 on tractors/self-propelled farm machinery and $4,227 on other
farm machinery. Livestock farms spend more money on trucks and automobiles than crops at an
average of $2,696 per farm.12 The amount spent on trucks, tractors, and machinery indicates how
much energy within each category.
Today there are multiple practices used to care and grow crops which require equipment of
various fuels. There is a long list of uses on a farm that derives the use of some type of fuel or
energy source.13 In almost every action on a farm you can drive energy. Crop farms derive more
energy overall than livestock farms do. On a crop farm the energy use that occurs in the
beginning of production occurs in the form of field work using some type of large operating
equipment such as mowers, tractors, plow and combines. Different types of equipment are
needed to manage the soil like weeding, harvesting, tillage, fertilizing and seed distribution.
Farmers tend to use either equipment hooked to their tractors to perform these tasks or purchase
additional machinery that is capable of performing these tasks individually. Whichever method is
used in the field, diesel and gasoline are the fuels that are needed to power these highly important
10
U.S. Dep’t of Agric., 2015 Energy Balance for the Corn-Ethanol Industry 8 (2016).
11
Nat’l Agric. Statistics Serv., U.S. Dep’t of Agric, 2017 Census of Agriculture (2019).
12
Id.
13
Jodi Ziesemer, Energy Use in Organic Food Systems (2007),
http://www.fao.org/docs/eims/upload/233069/energy-use-oa.pdf.
3
and large tools. However, these are under traditional crop farming standards that do not include
electricity for lights and heat from greenhouses or propane powered fire weeding and many more
methods that farmers use to accommodate their unique crop. For example, orchids use heaters to
prevent frost.
Livestock farming is uniquely different compared to crop farming. Livestock farms use mostly
direct energy to care for its animals. Since most of the operations occur inside, farms put more
energy into powering the building with lights, heat and ventilation just to make the building safe
for workers and animals. When dealing with animals in an industrial farm there is use of many
moving parts such as water distribution, waste management and feeding machines. Although
these methods are efficient for time and cleanliness, they derive these benefits from the use of
large amounts of distillate fuel. Oil is needed to improve flow of the farm through the use of
internal conveyors and elevators. These machines move the animals and the product to necessary
parts of the farm. The use of the livestock does not alter the need for large refrigeration.
Refrigeration derives electricity twenty-four hours a day without being shut off in order to
conserve products until they leave the farm. Almost every aspect of livestock production
requires some form of direct energy fuel.14
INDIRECT ENERGY
While direct energy in agriculture focuses on the activities on the farm, thus making them
“direct,” indirect energy can include the activities that happen during pre-production and post-
production that take place off the farm. Most of the research about indirect energy use in
agriculture focuses on fertilizer and pesticides because the production of these two substances
accounts for a large portion of the indirect energy. As the population has increased, farmers have
used increasing amounts of fertilizers to increase agriculture production. Fertilizer has helped
grow the production output of certain crops, including wheat, soybeans, corn, rice, and oats to
name a few.15
About 70-80% of the energy used to produce fertilizers comes from natural gas, due in part to the
high volume of nitrogen fertilizer production.16 Natural gas is used to create a nitrogen fertilizer
called anhydrous ammonia and natural gas is important for the ammonia synthesis done by the
Haber-Bosch process, which is commonly used in nitrogen fertilizer production.17 The Haber-
Bosch process became a growing phenomenon after World War II because it made it possible to
mass produce fertilizers, therefore contributing along with pesticides and herbicides to the
14
Susan Hicks, supra note 1.
15
The Fertilizer Institute, Improving Lives (2020), www.tfi.org/our-industry/intro-to-fertilizer/improving-lives.
16
Clark Gellings et al., Energy Efficiency in Fertilizer Production and Use (2009).
17
Id.
4
increase in yields that came about.18 While this Haber-Bosch process consumes only about 3-5%
of the world’s natural gas, scientists are working to make it more efficient to help reduce global
energy demand.19
There are also different fertilizer types. Nitrogen fertilizer is used more than the other
two, potash and phosphate.20 While nitrogen is extracted from air, potash and phosphates are
retrieved through mining processes.21 Phosphate fertilizer production consumes about 5,600
BTUs per pound of phosphate, while potash fertilizer production consumes about 4,700 BTUs
per pound of potash.22 Nitrogen fertilizer production utilizes greater than 75% of all the energy
use attributable to total fertilizer production with a consumption of about 25,000 BTUs per
pound of nitrogen. Therefore, not only is nitrogen fertilizer used more frequently, but it is also
more energy intensive to produce than the other two.23
Indirect energy use also includes chemical inputs like pesticides, herbicides, fungicides,
and insecticides, which farmers also rely on to increase yields.24 Although pesticide use
consumes less energy than fertilizer use, it is still a significant contributing factor, with more
than $9 billion spent on pesticides by U.S. producers in 2012 to protect their yields from
potential harm by pests.25 While less than 15% of energy use in agriculture is ascribed to
pesticides, it requires more energy per pound to manufacture pesticides than nitrogen fertilizer. 26
Pesticide production typically uses petroleum sources, as well as some electricity, natural gas,
and steam for certain steps of the manufacturing process.27 However, the amount of energy for
the production of different pesticides may depend on the method used to manufacture them and
the chemical composition.28
Fertilizer and pesticide use varies by agriculture and crop type, with about 1.25 billion
pounds of pesticides used each year, most overall used by feed and food grain crops and most
18
Vaclav Smil, Nitrogen Cycle and World Food Production, http://vaclavsmil.com/wp-content/uploads/docs/smil-
article-worldagriculture.pdf.
19
Improving Ammonia Synthesis Could Have Major Implications for Agriculture and Energy, ScienceDaily (2010),
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/101117094031.htm.
20
Econ. Research Service, Agricultural Resources and Environmental Indicators (2019),
https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/publications/93026/eib-208.pdf?v=4419.7.
21
The Fertilizer Institute, Fertilizer Production (2020), https://www.tfi.org/our-industry/intro-to-fertilizer/fertilizer-
production.
22
U.S. Dep’t of Agric., Cooperative Extension Serv., Energy-Efficient Use of Fertilizer and Other Nutrients in
Agriculture (2019), https://farm-energy.extension.org/energy-efficient-use-of-fertilizer-and-other-nutrients-in-
agriculture/.
23
Id.
24
Jodi Ziesemer, supra note 13, at 11.
25
Agricultural Resources and Environmental Indicators, supra note 20, at 35.
26
U.S. Dep’t of Agric., Cooperative Extension Serv., Energy Use and Efficiency in Pest Control, Including
Pesticide Production, Use, and Management Options (2019), https://farm-energy.extension.org/energy-use-and-
efficiency-in-pest-control-including-pesticide-production-use-and-management-options/#4.%20Stout,%20B.A.
27
Id.
28
Id.
5
used per acre by fruit and vegetable crops.29 For fertilizer, corn has the highest percentage of
expenditures, but low expenditures for direct energy.30 Types of agriculture vary in their energy
uses as well, considering livestock agriculture doesn’t have a need for fertilizers and pesticides
like crop agriculture does. Crop agriculture uses more energy and has a higher percentage of
energy expenditures than livestock agriculture.31 The variations in fertilizer and pesticide use can
then be broken down even more, when examining organic crop agriculture, which does not make
use of energy-intensive fertilizers and pesticides like industrial crop agriculture does.32
In addition to the production of fertilizers and pesticides, their post-production aspects
also contribute to the total indirect energy use in agriculture. This can include processing,
distributing, and transportation.33 The Fertilizer Institute describes the steps of the fertilizer
supply chain as first the collection of raw materials, which are the three types previously
discussed: nitrogen, phosphate, potash, then the manufacturing at a production facility, followed
by storage and distribution to a retailer who may create nutrient blends specific to their needs,
and then to the farm.34 These post-production aspects of energy use for fertilizers and pesticides
are difficult to measure because they vary based on numerous factors, including type of
transportation and distance travelled as well as type of packaging and processing methods.35 For
fertilizers, about 4,000 BTUs per ton are required to move a mile by truck and about 1,600 BTUs
per ton for a mile by rail.36 For pesticides, oil-based ones are estimated to use about 430 BTUs
per pound for transportation.37
Fertilizers and pesticides are mostly used in “conventional agriculture” as opposed to
organic agriculture which relies on less inputs.38 Much of what is considered “inefficient” in
conventional agriculture is due to the amount of energy consumed during the manufacturing of
fertilizers and pesticides, as well as the energy consumed while transporting and distributing
them.39 Conventional farming depends more on energy-intensive fertilizers, pesticides, and
concentrated feed, another aspect of indirect energy, than organic farms do.40 There are ways
however, that farmers can utilize fertilizers and pesticides more efficiently to save energy. Soil
testing is one option for farmers to assess which soil patches have a lack of nutrients and
therefore have more need for fertilizer.41 This saves energy by not utilizing extra fertilizers on
29
Id.
30
Susan Hicks, supra note 1.
31
Id.
32
Jodi Ziesemer, supra note 13.
33
Ziesemer, supra note 13, at 17.
34
The Fertilizer Institute, supra note 7.
35
Energy-Efficient Use of Fertilizer and Other Nutrients in Agriculture, supra note 22.
36
Id.
37
Energy Use and Efficiency in Pest Control,, supra note 26.
38
Ziesemer, supra note 13, at 10.
39
Id.
40
Ziesemer, supra note 13, at 4.
41
Energy Use and Efficiency in Pest Control,, supra note 26.
6
areas where it is not necessary and instead applying those fertilizers to soils with a lack of
nutrients.42 Placement of fertilizer close to the seed during planting is another more effective
method, as well as liming soil to the crop’s optimal pH, crop rotation, and timing the application
of fertilizer based on what research has shown to produce the most effective results can also help
with energy reduction.43 For pesticides, one main method to reduce energy is to utilize integrated
pest management through carefully searching for pests and determining when it is economically
best to spray preventative pesticides instead of spraying them constantly.44
Animal feed manufacturing is another category of indirect energy use. Concentrated feed
can be produced off-farm, making them indirect consumers of energy, however determining if
they fall under indirect or direct energy use can depend on if they are produced on the farm or
not, which they usually are for organic farms and are usually not for conventional farms.45
Production of feed for livestock tends to be intensive and makes use of chemicals and fertilizers,
adding to the inefficiency of energy use.46 Similar to fertilizers and pesticides, much of the
energy used for livestock feed is due to production, processing, and transportation, amounting to
about 2/3rds specifically for conventional livestock feed.47
Post-production activities such as processing and packaging can have various definitions
on if they are direct or indirect energy consumers. For the purposes of this project, if they are
performed on-site at the farm they are considered direct and if they are performed off-site they
are indirect. Packaging can be a large consumer of energy, with one evaluation by Heller et al.
finding that packaging had exceeded the total combined amount of energy used in production,
processing, and transportation.48 However, packaging is important because it prevents food
spoilage, which would be an inefficient use of energy, and there are ways to utilize more
recycled and biodegradable materials for packaging, as seen on some organic farms.49
Storage is another component that depending on locational factors could be considered
direct or indirect energy consumption. Refrigeration, pest and fungal control contribute to energy
consumption for storage for both conventional and organic farms, and synthetic preservatives
and other chemicals may also contribute to energy use for conventional agriculture.50
Distribution and transportation are typically the next steps after storage, and as touched on
previously depend on the type of transportation, fuel, loading efficiency, distance, and consumer
42
Id.
43
Id.
44
Energy Use and Efficiency in Pest Control, supra note 26.
45
Ziesemer, supra note 13, at 14.
46
Id.
47
Id.
48
Ziesemer, supra note 13, at 16.
49
Id.
50
Ziesemer, supra note 13, at 17.
7
travel.51 However, low energy use in one aspect of post-production may offset some energy
expenditures for transportation and there are different methods that can cut energy use, such as
delivery or pick up to a nearby center can cut costs of transportation by about 37-43% as well as
supplying a local wholesaler.52 There was a finding however, that while locally sourced food
may decrease energy use in some cases, other times it may not due to the use of smaller vehicles
and lower loads.53 Nevertheless, finding local food can be an important step to reducing an
individual’s energy footprint because it is common for food nowadays to be imported
internationally.54 Even within the United States, agriculture is concentrated in certain areas and
large percentages of certain crops are grown in specific regions, largely due to industrial
farming.55 Organic agriculture will sometimes put an emphasis on buying locally to reduce
individual energy use, which is an important thing to do, but does not take away from the large-
scale changes that are needed by the energy and agriculture industries to reduce their ecological
footprints.
While measuring indirect energy use, it’s important to consider those energy consumers
that aren’t always obvious. As mentioned above, there can be many layers to indirect energy use.
The production of fertilizers and pesticides is a large portion of indirect energy consumption, but
the transportation and handling of these substances is another layer, as well as the transportation
and handling of the crops on which these fertilizers and pesticides are used. Some other indirect
energy uses that might be considered are food intake by workers56, as well as energy used in
manufacturing equipment, even though that’s done only once, and the energy wasted from food
waste.
CONCLUSION
Throughout history, as the population has grown there has been an increasing demand for
industrial farming and the ability to feed a large number of people. Certain developments of
fertilizers and pesticides that help increase agricultural outputs may help yield efficiency, but in
order to use these in the large amounts that they’re used in, they do consume significant amounts
of energy. While there are many direct and indirect energy factors at play when it comes to
overall energy consumption in agriculture, it’s important to find renewable energy options and
sustainable alternatives for all factors. Finding renewable options not only may benefit the
natural environment, but it may help with environmental justice concerning humans who deal
51
Id.
52
Id.
53
Id.
54
Eating Sustainably: An Introduction to Sustainable Food (2011), https://sustainability.emory.edu/wp-
content/uploads/2018/02/Sustainable_Food_Information_Booklet.pdf.
55
Id.
56
Ziesemer, supra note 13, at 20.
8
with water and air contamination from chemicals, fossil fuels, and other harmful toxins from the
energy and agriculture industries.
Organic agriculture was mentioned earlier as having lower energy inputs, which can be a
sustainable alternative to more conventional and industrial farms.57 While this system tends to
require less energy and has less greenhouse gas emissions, it is not a perfect system that can still
have large energy uses in certain areas, such as large travel distances, even international. Buying
local food was one option of a change that consumers can make in their lives. One source gives a
few other important lifestyle changes to be aware of, such as being aware of the energy required
to produce the food that makes up your diet because meats and animal products tend to require a
lot of energy.58 Other steps for consumers they describe are meal planning to decrease food
waste and energy efficient storage to decrease energy consumption by refrigerators. 59
While working to reduce energy consumption at the consumer level can be important, it
is not always accessible for everyone due to different life situations. This makes it even more
important that the energy and agriculture industries work to reduce their large amounts of fossil
fuel usages. Some farms have already implemented renewable energy sources on-site like wind,
solar and biomass technologies, as well as implemented methods to rotate crops to fix nitrogen in
soil to make use of less fossil fuels.60 Many farms may have the potential to include renewable
resources, and different policies may have the ability to incentivize these practices which is
hopefully a shift that we will see in the near future.
57
Ziesemer, supra note 13, at 4.
58
Save on Energy Team, American Food Production Requires More Energy Than You Think (2019),
https://www.saveonenergy.com/learning-center/post/american-food-production-requires-energy/.
59
Id.
60
Agriculture and Energy Consumption (2020), https://foodprint.org/issues/agriculture-energy-consumption/.
