Grain, oilseed and sugar crops

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Grain, oilseed and sugar crops

• Stephen Kaffka
• Department of Plant Sciences
• January 19, 2007

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Sustainable Bioenergy Production

• Reasons for optimism increasing efficiency in
  farming, innovation, prices
• Reasons for caution competition for land,
  simple calculations may be misleading,
  unanticipated consequences

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Grain, oilseed and sugar crops

• Trends in field crop production
• Sugarbeets and sugar cane
• Corn and wheat
• Safflower and canola

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Conversion of row crop land to perennials
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An expanding dairy sector in the San Joaquin
Valley and elsewhere, a competing use for land
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Changes in California Agriculture since 1950
(Alston Zilberman, 1998)

• Between 1949 and 1991, a 218 increase in
  Californias agricultural output has occurred,
  with only a 58 increase in inputs of all kinds.
• This means that productivity doubled in 42 years.

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Growth in Californias agricultural output ()
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Input use in California agriculture
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Grain, oilseed and sugar crops

• Trends in field crop production
• Sugarbeets and sugar cane
• Corn and wheat
• Safflower and canola

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Imperial Valley, Fall 1998
Tile lines
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Yield monitor and GPS in use at harvest
Load cell
GPS unit
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IV-2000-2001, Sugar beet yield map (t/ac)
N
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49
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Head end
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37.5
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44.3/522
Sample locations
38/80.7
39.8/384
49.3/658
29.3/-332.7
29.4/-276
26.5/-349.5
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Energy costs (/gal)
(Corn 2.75 gal/bu 98 gal/t)
Source USDA, July 2006
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De Wit, 1992, Agric. Sys.
a feature of (agricultural) intensification is
that it is not the improvement of one growing
factor that is decisive, but the improvement of a
number of them. This leads to positive
interactions that imply that the total effect of
the measures that are taken is larger than the
sum of the effects of each of them separately.
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Grain, oilseed and sugar crops

• Trends in field crop production
• Sugarbeets and sugar cane
• Corn and wheat
• Safflower and canola

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Long-Term Research on Agricultural Systems
College of Agricultural Environmental Sciences
1993-2093
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220 bu
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Costs and Returns Corn
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Corn Net returns per acre above cash costs
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Corn Net returns per acre above total costs
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Grain, oilseed and sugar crops

• Trends in field crop production
• Sugarbeets and sugar cane
• Corn and wheat
• Safflower and canola

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Biodiesel Safflower and Canola
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Why biodiesel?

• To address global warming to consume 1 mt of
  petroleum diesel, 3.8 mt of CO2 are produced,
  while to consume 1 ton of biodiesel, 1.3 mt of
  CO2 are produced.
• Energy independence A great deal of our oil is
  imported from unstable locations in the world.
  Our refining capacity is highly centralized. For
  both reasons, our fuel economy is subject to
  disruption.
• Positive energy balance, and efficiency of diesel
  engines.

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Biodiesel-renewable diesel

• There are two (or more) processes
• First generation biodiesel is made by
  treating vegetable oil with alcohol and a
  catalyst to make a mono-alkyl ester based diesel.
  This has many desirable properties, but tends to
  be variable, depending on the quality of the
  feedstock. It is subject to instability and has
  cold weather problems.
• Safflower and canola are among the best oils for
  biodiesel made this way.

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Biodiesel-renewable diesel

• There are two or more processes
• Second generation biodiesel is made by adding
  hydrogen to vegetable oils or animal fats. This
  also has many desirable properties, is more
  uniform, stable and cold tolerant.

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Salt-affected plots
Non-saline plots
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Change in soil NO3-N during growth (mg/kg)
230 kg N
0 kg N
Depth (cm)
Pre-plant
Post harvest
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4 ft
8ft
Pre-plant residual NO3-N (mg/kg)
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Costs and Returns Safflower (rf)
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Safflower (rf) Net returns per acre above cash
costs
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Safflower (rf) Net returns per acre above total
cost
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Canola in Australiathe First Thirty Years

• P.A. Sailsbury, T.D. Potter, G.McDonald, and A.G.
  Green (eds). 2006

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Canola

• Can be grown where annual rainfall varies from 12
  inches to 30 inches
• It is sensitive to water logging.
• Thought to be less tolerant of drought than
  wheat.
• Will use up to 18 inches of water per year under
  Australian conditions.

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Canola

• Growing season of 150 to 210 days (5 to 7
  months).
• Similar to winter wheat in terms of planting and
  harvest dates.
• At harvest, most crops are swathed to avoid
  shattering.
• Yields are between 55 to 70 of wheat in
  Australia.

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Canola yields

• In Australia, yields vary from 500 lb/ac in low
  rainfall areas to greater than 3,000 lb/ac under
  favorable conditions.
• Averages seem to be approximately 1,500 to 2,000
  lb/ac in rainfall areas comparable to the
  Sacramento Valley.
• the highest yields reported in Australia are
  approximately 4500 lb/ac.
• Earlier work in California by Tom Kearney
  resulted in most yields being in the 1,500 to
  2,500 lb/ac range. A few yields reached 3,000
  lb/ac.

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Canola costs and returns

• In California, production costs are likely to be
  similar to safflower (225 to 300/ac)
• In Australia, costs are lower and canola is one
  of the most profitable crops.
• In California, reduced tillage methods may be
  able to save growers money. Soils in California
  are more fertile than in Australia, so that may
  offset other higher costs here, or result in
  higher potential yields.

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In California, the challenge will be to achieve
high yields and lower costs
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Oil production (gal/acre)
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Sustainable Bioenergy Production

• Reasons for optimism increasing efficiency in
  farming, innovation, prices
• Reasons for caution competition for land,
  simple calculations may be misleading,
  unanticipated consequences

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Safflower harvest at JG Boswell, Corcoran
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Action
Intended consequence loop
Outcome
time lag
Unintended consequence loop
System boundary
System reaction
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Action
R
Reinforcing feedback loop
R
R
Outcome
Solution feedback loop
time lag
B
B
System reaction
Balancing feedback loop
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Evaporation pond in the San Joaquin Valley
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Mo concentrations in shallow drain water

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Drainage water reuse

• Approximately 200,000 ha (500,000 ac) of land
  with shallow water tables in the San Joaquin
  Valley requires approximately 20,000 ha (50,000
  ac) of evaporation ponds to dispose of this
  water at this rate of evaporation. This is far
  more than currently available (or foreseeable).

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Drainage water reuse

• Approximately 18,000 ha (45,000 ac) of forages
  (or biofuel crops) reusing drainage water for
  irrigation combined with 1,000 to 2,000 ha (2,500
  to 5,000 ac) of evaporation ponds might meet the
  mid-term needs of San Joaquin Valley producers
  for a drainage water disposal option.

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Research site location
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Livestock performance
Cattle grazing at Westlake site, (July 2002) 160
steers on 62 acres
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On a high SAR soil, using moderate ECw irrigation
water (2 to 8 dS m-1), no infiltration and
drainage problems have been observed where
forages have been able to grow during the last
six years. Leaching and reclamation are
occurring.
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Conclusions drainage water reuse

• The salinity of shallow drainage water in the
  western SJV commonly ranges between 4 and 12 dS
  m-1. SO4 type salts are more common than Cl
  salts. Both of these are favorable circumstances
  for drainage water reuse.
• Trace elements (Se, Mo, B, others) vary in type
  and amount by location. These complicate reuse
  and disposal.
• These circumstances imply that drainage water
  reuse systems will require local adaptation and
  some monitoring.

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Costs and Returns Bermuda grass hay
5 years of production, Imperial Valley estimates,
10 t/ac
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Bermuda grass Net returns per acre above cash
costs