Technological and scientific innovation has transformed agricultural production. Corn production methods changed from a sustainable, nutrient recycling production system to one reliant on imported fossil energy inputs. Located in the Western Corn Belt, Union County, South Dakota was chosen as the study area. Changes in production methods are represented by four technological epochs: 1) The Draft Horse Epoch, 1890-1920; 2) The Tractor Epoch, 1920-1950; 3) The Fertilizer Epoch, 1950-1980; and 4) The Biotechnology and Precision Agriculture Epoch, 1980-2010. The energy budget method was used to measure the energy sustainability of corn production. The findings show that the volume of corn grain yield credited to fossil fuels and inorganic fertilizer energy inputs represents the magnitude of the corn crop that is neither sustainable nor renewable.
","abstract_html":"<p>Technological and scientific innovation has transformed agricultural production. Corn production methods changed from a sustainable, nutrient recycling production system to one reliant on imported fossil energy inputs. Located in the Western Corn Belt, Union County, South Dakota was chosen as the study area. Changes in production methods are represented by four technological epochs: 1) The Draft Horse Epoch, 1890-1920; 2) The Tractor Epoch, 1920-1950; 3) The Fertilizer Epoch, 1950-1980; and 4) The Biotechnology and Precision Agriculture Epoch, 1980-2010. The energy budget method was used to measure the energy sustainability of corn production. The findings show that the volume of corn grain yield credited to fossil fuels and inorganic fertilizer energy inputs represents the magnitude of the corn crop that is neither sustainable nor renewable. </p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Bernau, Matthew"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science (MS)","degree_level":"Thesis - Open Access","degree_discipline":"Geography","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Darrell Napton"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2013,"date_issued":"2013-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2013-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:28:30Z","subjects":["Corn Belt","maize","food security","energy","sustainability","agriculture","Agricultural and Resource Economics","Geography"],"languages":["en"],"rights":["Copyright 2013 Matthew Bernau. All Rights Reserved."],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/etd/1011","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Darrell Napton"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Bernau, Matthew"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2016-07-15T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Geography"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis - Open Access"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science (MS)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Corn Belt","maize","food security","energy","sustainability","agriculture","Agricultural and Resource Economics","Geography"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2013 Matthew Bernau. All Rights Reserved."]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/etd/1011"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Technological and scientific innovation has transformed agricultural production. Corn production methods changed from a sustainable, nutrient recycling production system to one reliant on imported fossil energy inputs. Located in the Western Corn Belt, Union County, South Dakota was chosen as the study area. Changes in production methods are represented by four technological epochs: 1) The Draft Horse Epoch, 1890-1920; 2) The Tractor Epoch, 1920-1950; 3) The Fertilizer Epoch, 1950-1980; and 4) The Biotechnology and Precision Agriculture Epoch, 1980-2010. The energy budget method was used to measure the energy sustainability of corn production. The findings show that the volume of corn grain yield credited to fossil fuels and inorganic fertilizer energy inputs represents the magnitude of the corn crop that is neither sustainable nor renewable.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Energy in the Corn Belt: Is Maize Production Sustainable?"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Darrell Napton"],"dc:creator":["Bernau, Matthew"],"dc:date.available":["2016-07-15T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Technological and scientific innovation has transformed agricultural production. Corn production methods changed from a sustainable, nutrient recycling production system to one reliant on imported fossil energy inputs. Located in the Western Corn Belt, Union County, South Dakota was chosen as the study area. Changes in production methods are represented by four technological epochs: 1) The Draft Horse Epoch, 1890-1920; 2) The Tractor Epoch, 1920-1950; 3) The Fertilizer Epoch, 1950-1980; and 4) The Biotechnology and Precision Agriculture Epoch, 1980-2010. The energy budget method was used to measure the energy sustainability of corn production. The findings show that the volume of corn grain yield credited to fossil fuels and inorganic fertilizer energy inputs represents the magnitude of the corn crop that is neither sustainable nor renewable.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/etd/1011"],"dc:language":["en"],"dc:rights":["Copyright 2013 Matthew Bernau. All Rights Reserved."],"dc:subject":["Corn Belt","maize","food security","energy","sustainability","agriculture","Agricultural and Resource Economics","Geography"],"dc:title":["Energy in the Corn Belt: Is Maize Production Sustainable?"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Geography"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis - Open Access"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science (MS)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:28:30Z"}