helping PEOPLE help the LAND

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) 

prohibits discrimination in all its programs 

and activities on the basis of race, color, 

national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, 

parental status, religion, sexual orientation, 

genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or a part of an individual’s 

income is derived from any public assistance 

program. (Not all prohibited bases apply to 

all programs.) Persons with disabilities who 

require alternative means for communication 

of program information (Braille, large print, 

audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD). 

To file a complaint of discrimination write to 

USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 

Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 

20250-9410 or call (800) 795-3272 (voice) or 

(202) 720-6382 (TDD). USDA is an equal 

opportunity provider and employer.

PA-1854 (revised September 2006)

Prescribed Grazing Systems

Well-managed grazing systems improve plant 

health and vigor, enhance water quality and 

quantity, reduce soil erosion, and improve soil 

condition. 

With prescribed grazing, producers alternate 

between grazing and resting grazing units in a 

planned sequence that considers rate of plant 

growth, level of vegetative cover, and needs of the 

grazing animal. Studies show that energy savings 

of up to 21 percent for beef, 89 percent for veal, 

and 88 percent for lambs and goats are possible for 

grass-based production compared to conventional 

confinement. 

In Missouri, beef cattle raised and finished on 

high-quality pasture have shown rapid average 

daily weight gain of 2 or more pounds and 

reach a marketable weight within just 20 months, 

at about half the cost of raising and finishing 

cattle in confinement. Dairies in New York and 

Wisconsin found that pastured lactating dairy cows 

consistently show a higher net farm income from 

operations over a 4-year period when compared to 

confined cows, whether measured per cow or per 

hundred-weight of milk.

Windbreaks and Shelterbelts

In rural areas, well-designed windbreaks can 

cut home heating costs by 10 to 25 percent. 

Windbreaks reduce the force of the wind on the 

exterior surfaces of buildings and thus reduce the 

cooling effect of the cold air. About 11 percent 

of the Nation’s energy use goes to heating and 

cooling of residential homes. 

A resident of Ft. Collins, Colorado, built a home in 

a rural area in 1970 and planted a windbreak for 

protection at the same time. For the next 20 years, 

he recorded the amount of natural gas used to 

heat the home. As the windbreak matured, he 

observed a decrease in gas use with an estimated 

40 percent savings overall in the 20-year period.

Energy Conservation in Confined Animal Operations

Simple changes in confined animal operations can 

help farmers and ranchers achieve significant cost 

and energy savings. Replacing a worn belt on an 

electric motor could increase output by 20 percent 

or more. Well-maintained 48-inch fans in a broiler 

house cost up to 20 percent less to operate than 

poorly maintained fans. High-efficiency motors 

can reduce energy consumption by 3 to 8 percent 

and might be substituted for other motors. Using 

heat exchangers in a milking operation could 

cut electricity used for heating in half. Switching 

from incandescent to U-tube fluorescent lights in 

a 40,000-bird-broiler operation could save nearly 

18,000 kilowatt-hours per year. 

NRCS supports conservation practices that save 

producers money and improve the environmental 

health of the Nation. For more information on 

energy-saving conservation practices, including 

updated cost savings, visit the NRCS “Save ENERGY, 

Save MONEY” Web site at www.nrcs.usda.gov/

energy. The site includes several Energy Tools—

on-line energy estimators to help you assess energy 

conservation optoins.
Conservation Practices Contribute to Energy 

Efficiency and Fuel Savings

Farmers and ranchers can cut input costs, 

maintain production, protect soil and water 

resources, reduce the Nation’s dependence 

on fossil fuels, and save money by using the 

conservation practices described in this brochure. 

Other options may be available in your area—

check with your local NRCS office for more 

information.

Crop Residue Management

A producer can save up to 3.5 gallons of fuel per 

acre by going from conventional tillage methods 

to no-till. No-till is a conservation practice that 

leaves the crop residue (stalks, stubble, leaves, 

and seed pods) undisturbed from harvest through 

planting except for narrow strips of minimal soil 

disturbance. Good management of crop residue 

can increase efficiency of irrigation and control 

erosion. No-till can be used for almost any crop 

in almost any soil and can save producers labor 

costs and fuel. It’s a sound investment for the 

environment and the farm.

Irrigation Water Management

Irrigation water management (IWM) plays a crucial 

role in water conservation and can cut producers’ 

costs. IWM involves applying water in a manner 

that meets the need of the growing plant while 

avoiding extended soil saturation and runoff. 

According to the 2002 Farm and Ranch Irrigation 

Survey, approximately 27 million U.S. acres are 

under sprinkler irrigation. About 80 percent of these 

acres use center pivot systems. Studies on the 

High Plains show that converting medium-pressure 

systems to low-pressure decreases farmers’ energy 

costs up to 13 percent. Converting from highpressure systems to low-pressure could decrease 

energy costs almost 40 percent.

Upgrading other types of irrigation systems, such 

as switching from high- or medium-pressure drip 

sprinklers to low-pressure, increases efficiency, 

conserves water, and reduces distribution costs. 

Diesel-powered pumps are used on about 10 

million irrigated acres. A 10-percent improvement 

in water-use efficiency could reduce annual diesel 

consumption by 8 gallons per acre. 

Nutrient Management

With nearly 40,000 cubic feet of natural gas needed 

to produce 1 ton of commercial nitrogen fertilizer, 

nutrient management can result in significant 

energy savings. Nutrient management involves 

proper timing and placement of the right amounts 

of nutrients and soil amendments for adequate soil 

fertility while minimizing potential degradation of 

water quality. Appropriate substitution of manure for 

commercial fertilizer can reduce crop production 

costs by as much as 20 percent. Producers who use 

nitrogen-fixing legumes as cover crops or in crop 

rotations also reduce their need for commercial 

fertilizer. 

Energy costs also may be reduced through use of 

anaerobic digesters, such as covered lagoons and 

complete mix digesters. Manure from the anaerobic 

digesters provides a reliable level of nitrogen 

fertilizer and can be used to replace commercial 

fertilizer. Methane produced by the manure allows 

biogas generators to produce electricity and heat 

that producers can use onsite. Also, the potential 

exists to sell the excess electricity to a local electric 

grid.

It All Adds Up to Significant National Energy Savings

S Doubling the amount of no-till acreage (from 62 

million acres to 124 million acres) could save 

farmers and ranchers an additional 217 million 

gallons of diesel fuel per year.

S Converting irrigation systems from medium and 

high pressure to low pressure could save more 

than 1.1 million kilowatt hours of electricity 

annually. 

S Improving water-use efficiency by just 10 

percent could reduce diesel consumption by 

almost 26 million gallons annually. 

S Doubling the application of manure-based 

nitrogen through a nutrient management plan 

could save up to 100 billion cubic feet of natural 

gas annually. 

S If guidance systems were used on 10 percent 

of the planted acres in the United States, fuel 

use could be cut by up to 16 million gallons, 

herbicide use by 2 million quarts, and insecticide 

use by 4 million pounds per year.

S Reducing application overlap on 250 million 

acres of cropland could save more than 1

million tons of fertilizer and pesticides annually. 

S The Federal AgSTAR program estimates that 

biogas systems could recover about 1.3 million 

metric tons of methane for use in more than 

7,000 livestock facilities across the United States.

Precision Agriculture

Producers can save significant quantities of energy 

by implementing precision agriculture practices, 

also known as “site-specific crop management.” 

Producers can specify the farm input needs 

(including nutrient and pesticide application, tillage, 

and irrigation) throughout an individual field by 

using a guidance system. A 1,000-acre farm with 

a continuous corn crop could reduce chemical 

application overlap from 24 inches to 2 inches, and 

result in savings of up to 5 percent. Producers find 

that a guidance system can pay for itself in just 2 to 

3 years. 

Integrated Pest Management 

By incorporating integrated pest management 

(IPM) techniques into their operations, agricultural 

producers can reduce energy use and 

environmental risk while maintaining the quality 

of their agricultural products. For example, cherry 

producers who replaced traditional spraying 

schedules with spraying based on in-the-field 

microclimate information obtained from monitoring 

equipment and scouting have reduced fungicide 

or insecticide applications as much as 25 percent. 

Selecting crop varieties that are most suitable to 

local growing conditions helps reduce pest-related 

damages. When conservation practices, such as 

crop rotation and pest management techniques, 

are used in conjunction with naturally occurring 

predators, insects, and pathogens, pest populations 

are further suppressed. IPM activities also help 

reduce pesticide losses from runoff and leaching; 

reduce pesticide residues in crops; reduce energy 

use and production costs; and improve water, soil, 

and air quality.