Progress 10/01/07 to 09/30/12
Outputs
OUTPUTS: The magnitude of labor reductions associated with farm machinery use was much greater than the additional energy cost, but fixed capital costs grew with each successive farm scale. Biointensive production would be most appropriate for producers with ample labor but little access to energy or capital inputs. Market Garden scale production offered a compromise between Biointensive practices, which were highly labor intensive, and Small Farm practices, which were the most capital and energy intensive of the scales studied. Over the course of the study, soil organic matter declined from 2.5 percent to 2.2 percent in the Small Farm plots, but rose to 2.7 percent in the Biointensive and Market Garden plots. Although organic production practices were used in all plots, and the experimental site was on certified organic land, the Small Farm plots violated the organic requirement that soil organic matter content be maintained or improved. Sweet sorghum showed the greatest potential for on-farm ethanol production among the crops tested. Sweet sorghum exhibited excellent drought tolerance; it was the only crop that performed well in both wet and dry years. It also performed well across farm scales, and was the only crop with significantly higher yields at the Biointensive scale than the Small Farm scale. Its low nitrogen demand likely contributed to its strong performance on organic land where winter cover crop mixtures of rye and hairy vetch provided most of the nitrogen input. Sweet sorghum was the only crop that provided directly fermentable material without addition of water during pre-processing, and less water has to be removed by distillation to produce 95% ethanol fuel from fermented sweet sorghum waste, relative to the other crops tested. The M81E variety of sweet sorghum gave a consistently higher yield of fermentable sugars than the Dale variety. Despite its promise as a feedstock crop for on-farm ethanol production, the economic return to sorghum syrup production was at least ten times greater than the savings available through on-farm production of ethanol fuel, so farmers attempting on-farm ethanol production from sweet sorghum should sell as much syrup as possible before dedicating any excess unmarketable product to ethanol. Sweet sorghum was the most perishable of the crops tested: ethanol and syrup production from sweet sorghum was limited to a three-month window between September and November. A modest net energy gain was realized from ethanol fuel production at each of the farm scales tested. The energy output was roughly three times the input for sweet sorghum produced at the Biointensive scale, and double the input for sweet sorghum produced at the market garden or small farm scales. PARTICIPANTS: Principal Investigator Michael Bomford was responsible for project planning, oversight and outreach. Co-Investigator Tony Silvernail was responsible for plot maintenance and data collection. He was assisted by: Research Assistant Jon Cambron; graduate student Joni Nelson; undergraduate students Jaree Beckwith, Simone Stephens and Nicholas Cook; and high school student interns Amber Heard and Rachel Schack. Workshops related to the project involved farmers, extension agents, gardeners, K-12 students, undergraduate students, and graduate students. Project partners included farmer collaborators Connie Lemley and John Bell, industrial collaborator Ferm Solutions, and contributors from the non-profit Post Carbon Institute. TARGET AUDIENCES: Organic farmers; limited-resource farmers; farmers wishing to be more sustainable; policy makers concerned with farm and energy policies; fuel users. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Three farm scales were compared. The smallest scale (Biointensive) plots had high density plantings of transplanted crops, and were managed entirely with hand tools. Medium scale (Market Garden) plots were planted at standard densities and managed with a combination of hand tools and walk-behind tractors. The largest scale (Small Farm) plots were managed primarily with four-wheeled tractors and appropriate attachments. Pooled yields of the four crops did not differ between farm scales. Sweet sorghum performed best in the Biointensive plots, while corn and soybean performed best in the Small Farm plots. Sweet potato had similar yields between scales. Compared to the Small Farm plots on a unit area basis, the Market Garden and Biointensive plots used 4 percent and 40 percent less energy, respectively, but 130 percent and 800 percent more labor. Metabolic energy accounted for all of the energy input at the Biointensive scale, but only 14 percent of energy used at the Market Garden Scale, and 6 percent of energy used at the Small Farm scale. Energy from fossil fuels accounted for the remainder. The energy cost associated with farm machinery use was much smaller than the labor saving.
Publications
- Cambron, J., Bomford, M.K., Silvernail, A.F., and Nelson, J. 2012. Economics and Energy Efficiency of on-Farm Fuel Production from Sweet Sorghum Using a Small-Scale Ethanol Plant. Growing the Bioeconomy Conference: Social, Environmental and Economic Implications. Invited Keynote Papers and Abstracts (abstract), Banff, Alberta, Canada(P43).
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Progress 01/01/11 to 12/31/11
Outputs
OUTPUTS: As in 2008-10, rain-fed food and biofuel varieties of corn, sweet sorghum, sweet potato and soybean were grown organically at three production scales. Yields were recorded along with all direct inputs of land, labor and energy. Effects of production scale on efficiency of use of these inputs was determined. Some preliminary results were posted to the Energy Farms blog (http://energyfarms.wordpress.org), maintained by the project's principal investigator. Results were presented orally at: the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group conference (Chattanooga TN); Tennessee Horticultural Expo (Nashville, TN); Organic Association of Kentucky annual conference (Bowling Green, KY); Association of Research Directors Conference (Atlanta, GA); and the Kentucky Academy of Science conference (Murray, KY). Implications of emerging results were discussed in graduate and undergraduate level classes at Kentucky State University (Frankfort, KY). Presentation slides were archived online (http://organic.kysu.edu/Presentations.shtml). Field tours of the study site were conducted for participants in several 'Third Thursday' workshops on sustainable agriculture at the KSU Research and Demonstration Farm. PARTICIPANTS: Principal Investigator Michael Bomford was responsible for project planning, oversight and outreach. Co-Investigator Tony Silvernail was responsible for plot maintenance and data collection. He was assisted by Research Assistant Jon Cambron, graduate students Michael Ward and Joni Nelson, and high school student interns Christopher Gaines and Cristen Flewellen. Workshops related to the project involved farmers, extension agents, gardeners, K-12 students, undergraduate students, and graduate students. TARGET AUDIENCES: Organic farmers; limited-resource farmers; farmers wishing to be more sustainable; policy makers concerned with farm and energy policies; fuel users. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
All crops performed well in 2011, demonstrating potential for both food and biofuel production at the market garden and small farm scale. Sweet potato performed much better than in previous years, and showed the greatest potential for on-farm ethanol fuel production. As in previous years, energy and labor use efficiency were inversely correlated, with small farm plots giving the return to labor and biointensive plots giving the best return to energy. Observed differences between the three years emphasize the importance of repeating this study for several years before drawing final conclusions. Results will aid in development of biofuel production systems compatible with small and limited-resource farming operations. Knowledge gained through this study contributed to improvement of the new eXtension 'Sustainable Ag Energy' Community of Practice. The study is being used as the foundation of an ongoing research and demonstration project testing the potential for on-farm ethanol production using an integrated fermentation, distillation, purification, blending and pumping unit (http://organic.kysu.edu/Ethanol.shtml). The Principal Investigator's contributions to federal and state-sponsored efforts to assess biofuel sustainability resulted in recommendations that will help shape federal and state biofuel policies.
Publications
- Bomford, M.K. 2011. Agriculture and Natural Gas. In D. Hughes & D. Lerch (Eds.), Will Natural Gas Fuel America in the 21st Century Supplemental Articles. Post Carbon Institute, Santa Rosa, CA.
- Bomford, M.K. 2011. Beyond Food Miles. Post Carbon Institute, Santa Rosa, CA. http://www.postcarbon.org/article/273686-beyond-food-miles.
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Progress 01/01/10 to 12/31/10
Outputs
OUTPUTS: As in 2008 and 2009, rain-fed food and biofuel varieties of corn, sweet sorghum, sweet potato and soybean were grown organically at three production scales. Yields were recorded along with all direct inputs of land, labor and energy. Effects of production scale on efficiency of use of these inputs was determined. Some preliminary results were posted to the Energy Farms blog (http://energyfarms.net), maintained by the project's principal investigator. Results were presented orally at: the Kentucky Horticultural Society annual meeting (Lexington, KY); the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy Agriculture Section Meeting (Madison, WI); the KSU Summer Transportation Institute (Frankfort, KY); the KSU Sustainable Farms, Families and Farm Energy Field Day (Frankfort, KY); the Kentucky League of Cities Annual Meeting (Louisville, KY); and the Kentucky Academy of Sciences (Bowling Green, KY). Implications of emerging results were discussed in graduate and undergraduate level classes at Kentucky State University (Frankfort, KY). All presentation slides were archived online (http://organic.kysu.edu/Presentations.shtml). Field tours of the study site were conducted for participants in several 'Third Thursday' workshops on sustainable agriculture at the KSU Research and Demonstration Farm. PARTICIPANTS: Principal Investigator Michael Bomford was responsible for project planning, oversight and outreach. Co-Investigator Tony Silvernail was responsible for plot maintenance and data collection. He was assisted by Research Assistant Jon Cambron, graduate student Michael Ward, and student interns Will Tidwell, Tristen Chesser and Lisa Liu. Farmer cooperators John Bell and Connie Lemley recorded inputs used at their commercial organic farm for purposes of comparison with the replicated study plots on the KSU farm. Workshops related to the project involved farmers, extension agents, gardeners, K-12 students, undergraduate students, and graduate students. TARGET AUDIENCES: Organic farmers; limited-resource farmers; farmers wishing to be more sustainable; policy makers concerned with farm and energy policies; fuel users. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: The Post Carbon Institute continues to assist with outreach efforts related to the project, but is no longer involved with applied trials of small scale biofuel feedstock crop production in California. Grower cooperators are located near within 50 miles of the main experimental site in Kentucky.
Impacts
Atypical rainfall patterns influenced yields in 2010, as in previous years. The growing season began with spring floods that delayed planting, and concluded with a severe drought that reduced yields of all crops relative to previous years. Sweet sorghum was the most resilient of the crops tested during this stressful year: It performed reasonably well at all farm scales, but yields were lower than in previous years. Corn gave a higher theoretical ethanol yield than sweet sorghum at the small farm scale, but performed poorly at the biointensive and market garden scales. Sweet potato produced no marketable yield at any scale. As in previous years, energy and labor use efficiency were inversely correlated, with small farm plots giving the return to labor and biointensive plots giving the best return to energy and land (excluding crop failures). Observed differences between the three years emphasize the importance of repeating this study for several years before drawing final conclusions. Results will aid in development of biofuel production systems compatible with small and limited-resource farming operations. Knowledge gained through this study contributed to improvement of the new eXtension 'Sustainable Ag Energy' Community of Practice. The study is being used as the foundation of a new research and demonstration project testing the potential for on-farm ethanol production using an integrated fermentation, distillation, purification, blending and pumping unit (http://organic.kysu.edu/Ethanol.shtml). The Principal Investigator's contributions to federal and state-sponsored efforts to assess biofuel sustainability resulted in recommendations that will help shape federal and state biofuel policies.
Publications
- Michael Bomford and Tony Silvernail. 2010. Can Sweet Sorghum and Sweetpotato Ethanol Contribute to Self Sufficiency of Small Farms Proceedings of the 5th National Small Farms Conference, September 15-17, 2009, Springfield, IL. Dennis Ebodaghe, ed. USDA. pp. 64-69.
- Michael Bomford. 2010. Biodiversity in Sustainable Energy Systems. http://www.extension.org/pages/Biodiversity_in_Sustainable_Energy_Sys tems
- Steve Moore and Michael Bomford. 2010. Sustainability Indicators for Farm Energy. http://www.extension.org/pages/Sustainability_Indicators_for_Farm_Ene rgy
- Rick Cruse and Michael Bomford. 2010. Water Quality in Sustainable Energy Systems. http://www.extension.org/pages/Water_Quality_in_Sustainable_Energy_Sy stems
- Michael Bomford. 2010. Getting Fossil Fuels off the Plate. In R. Heinberg & D. Lerch (Eds.), The Post Carbon Reader, 1st edition, pp. 119-127. Healdsburg, CA: Watershed Media.
- Mike Morris, Diana Friedman and Michael Bomford. 2010. Introduction to Farm Energy. http://extension.org/pages/Introduction_to_Farm_Energy
- Diana Friedman, Mike Morris and Michael Bomford. 2010. Sustainability Standards for Farm Energy. http://extension.org/pages/Sustainability_Standards_for_Farm_Energy
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Progress 01/01/09 to 12/31/09
Outputs
OUTPUTS: As in 2008, rain-fed food and biofuel varieties of corn, sweet sorghum, sweet potato and soybean were grown organically at three production scales. Yields were recorded along with all direct inputs of land, labor and energy. Effects of production scale on efficiency of use of these inputs was determined. Preliminary results of the study were posted to the Energy Farms blog (http://energyfarms.net). Management of the blog was transferred from the Post Carbon Institute to this project in 2009. Results were presented orally at the West Virginia Small Farms Conference (Morgantown, WV), the National Small Farms Conference (Springfield, IL); and at meetings of the Kentucky Horticultural Society (Lexington, KY), the Association for Research Directors (Atlanta, GA), and the Kentucky Academy of Sciences (Highland Heights, KY). Implications of emerging results were presented at the Biofuels for Aviation Summit (Arlington, VA), Kentucky's Executive Task Force on Biomass and Biofuels (Frankfort, KY), and in undergraduate classes at Kentucky State University (Frankfort, KY) and the University of Kentucky (Lexington, KY). All presentation slides were archived online (http://organic.kysu.edu/Presentations.shtml). The study was discussed in a radio program aired in California, and archived online (http://www.globalpublicmedia.com/reality_report_michael_bomford_inte rview). Field tours of the study site were conducted for participants in several 'Third Thursday' workshops on sustainable agriculture. PARTICIPANTS: Principal Investigator Michael Bomford was responsible for project planning, oversight and outreach. Co-Investigator Tony Silvernail was responsible for plot maintenance and data collection. He was assisted by student interns John Rodgers, Moises Hernandez, and Benjamin Austin. Farmer cooperator John Bell recorded inputs used in his commercial organic farm for purposes of comparison with the replicated study plots on the KSU farm. Workshops related to the project involved farmers, gardeners, K-12 students, and undergraduate students. TARGET AUDIENCES: Organic farmers; limited-resource farmers; farmers wishing to be more sustainable; policy makers concerned with farm and energy policies; fuel users. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Several findings differed between 2008, which was a drought year, and 2009, which was unusually wet. Corn and soybean yields were higher in 2009, but sweet potato yields were lower. In contrast to 2008, corn gave a higher theoretical ethanol yield than sweet sorghum or sweet potato in 2009. Energy and labor use efficiency were inversely correlated in both years, but energy and land use efficiency were positively correlated in 2009 only. Biointensive plots offered the greatest energy and land-use efficiency in 2009; small farm plots were the most labor efficient. Observed differences between the two years emphasize the importance of repeating this study for several years before drawing final conclusions. Results will aid in development of biofuel production systems compatible with small and limited-resource farming operations. Knowledge gained through this study contributed to development of the new eXtension 'Sustainable Ag Energy' Community of Practice. The study is being used as the foundation of a new research and demonstration project testing the potential for on-farm ethanol production using an integrated fermentation, distillation, purification, blending and pumping unit (http://organic.kysu.edu/Ethanol.shtml). The Principal Investigator's contributions to federal and state-sponsored efforts to assess biofuel sustainability resulted in recommendations that will help shape federal and state biofuel policies.
Publications
- Bomford, M.K. and Silvernail, A.F. 2009. Potential of Sweet Potato and Sweet Sorghum as Advanced Biofuel Crops for Low Input Production on Small Farms. Page 96 in Proc. of 15th Biennial ARD Research Symposium. Atlanta GA.
- Bomford, M.K. and Silvernail, A.F. 2009. Can sweet sorghum and sweet potato ethanol contribute to self-sufficiency of small farms Page 17 in Proc. of 5th National Small Farms Conference. Springfield, IL.
- Silvernail, A.F. and Bomford, M.K. 2009. The effect of weed control and tillage on soil health in organic vegetable production. HortScience 44: 1112.
- Heinberg, R. and Bomford, M.K. 2009. The Food and Farming Transition: Toward a Post Carbon Food System. Post Carbon Institute, Sebastopol CA. http://www.postcarbon.org/food
- Anderson, K., Bomford, M., Cagle, J., Holmes,K., Montross, M., Moore, F., Shanks, K., Stringer, J., Taylor, E. and Thomas, B. 2009. Final Report from the Executive Taskforce on Biomass and Biofuels Development in Kentucky. Kentucky Governor's Office of Agricultural Policy and Energy and Environment Cabinet, Frankfort, KY.
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Progress 01/01/08 to 12/31/08
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Food and biofuel varieties of corn, sweet sorghum, sweet potato and soybean were grown in replicated plots at three production scales: 1) Biointensive plots depending entirely on human labor for management; 2) Market garden plots using no machinery larger than a walk-behind tractor; and 3) Small farm plots using a combination of management tools including conventional four-wheeled tractors with implements. All labor and fuel inputs were recorded to allow calculation of land, labor, and energy use efficiency for each combination of crop and production scale. Theoretical ethanol yield was calculated for each combination. Preliminary results were posted regularly to the Energy Farms blog (www.energyfarms.net) maintained by the Post Carbon Institute. Several blog postings included video segments. A new web page about the project was added to KSU's Organic Agriculture Working Group website (http://organic.kysu.edu/Biofuel.shtml). Results were presented orally to southern SARE program leaders, participants in several 'Third Thursday' workshops on sustainable agriculture, and more than 50 other participants in field days and workshops at the Kentucky State University Research and Demonstration Farm. Visitors included the Environmental Secretary of Brazil's Mato Grosso state. Presentations resulted in invitations to contribute to eXtension's 'Sustainable Ag Energy' Community of Practice; the National Center for Appropriate Technology project on 'Energy Training for Agriculture Professionals in the Southern SARE Region'; and an international summit on 'Building-Integrated Sustainable Agriculture.' PARTICIPANTS: Principal Investigator Michael Bomford was responsible for project planning, oversight and outreach. Co-Investigator Tony Silvernail was responsible for plot maintenance and data collection. He was assisted by student intern Joelle Johnson and a dozen other students participating in KSU's Co-operative Association of States for Scholars program. The Post Carbon Institute assisted with outreach as a partner organization. Farmer cooperator Connie Lemley recorded inputs used in her commercial market garden for purposes of comparison with the replicated study plots on the KSU farm. Several workshops conducted at the experiment site involved farmers, SARE program leaders, K-12 students, and undergraduate students. TARGET AUDIENCES: Organic farmers; limited-resource farmers; farmers wishing to be more sustainable; policy makers concerned with farm and energy policies; fuel users. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.
Impacts
Data collected in the first year suggest that sweet potato and sweet sorghum are more compatible with small scale, low-input agriculture systems in Kentucky than corn. Both crops had the capacity to produce more ethanol than corn given similar land, labor and energy inputs. We found inverse relationships between energy and land use efficiency and between energy and labor use efficiency. Each production scale was well-suited to scarcity of a different resource: Biointensive, market garden and small farm-scale systems demonstrated superior energy, land, and labor use efficiency, respectively. These results will aid the development of biofuel production systems that rely on alternative feedstocks compatible with small and limited-resource farming operations.
Publications
- M.K. Bomford, J.C. Bradford, J. Darley, C. Hanson, J. Puckett, J.A. Rodgers and A.F. Silvernail. 2008. Low-input biofuel crops for sustainable renewable energy production on small farms. AEA/ARD Land Grant Conference Program and Abstracts. June 8-11, Memphis, TN. p. 23. (http://www.aea-ard.org/forms/program_5_23.pdf)
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Progress 10/01/07 to 12/31/07
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Corn, sweet sorghum, and sweet potato were harvested from preliminary study plots. Juice was extracted from sweet sorghum, and a theoretical ethanol production capacity per unit land (land-use efficiency) was calculated for each crop. Plots were laid out for the farm scale field study. Meetings were held with farmer collaborators and collaborators from the Post Carbon Institute. A description of the preliminary study and a video blog entry about sweet sorghum were posted online (http://www.energyfarms.net/node/1429 and http://www.energyfarms.net/node/1432). Preliminary study results were presented as a poster by undergraduate student John Rodgers at the annual meeting of the Kentucky Academy of Science, taking first place in the undergraduate poster competition. Material from the literature review conducted during development of the proposal was used in an 'Introduction to Sustainable Agriculture' class taught in the fall semester of 2007.
PARTICIPANTS: Post Carbon Institute President Julian Darley and Executive Director Celine Rich are collaborators on this study. Connie Lemley is a confirmed farmer collaborator, and several other farmers have expressed an interest in collaborating on this project.
TARGET AUDIENCES: Organic farmers; limited-resource farmers; farmers wishing to be more sustainable; policy makers concerned with farm and energy policies; consumers
Impacts
Our preliminary study results suggest that ethanol production from sweet sorghum and sweet potato would be two and five times more land efficient, respectively, than ethanol production from corn.
Publications
- Rodgers, J.A., Bomford, M.K., Wang, C., Geier, B.A. and Silvernail, A.F. (2008). Evaluation of Alternative Bioethanol Feedstock Crops. Abstracts of Some Papers Presented at the 2007 Annual Meeting of the Kentucky Academy of Science. Journal of the Kentucky Academy of Science 69 (in press).
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