What energy inputs go into farming?

What energy inputs go into farming?

Direct energy consumption includes the use of diesel, electricity, propane, natural gas, and renewable fuels for activities on the farm. Indirect energy consumption includes the use of fuel and feedstock (especially natural gas) in the manufacturing of agricultural chemicals such as fertilizers and pesticides.

How did apples come to America?

The first apple trees in North America grew from seeds brought by French Jesuits in the late sixteenth century. As settlers moved southward from Pennsylvania to North Carolina, apples traveled with them. The Cape Fear settlement on the North Carolina coast had an extensive apple orchard as early as 1666.

How are apples transported to stores?

When they’re ready to go to market, the apples are taken into another packaging facility where they go through a final visual inspection. Each apple gets tagged with a sticker and then packaged by hand. Boxes are carried to the refrigerated shipping room to await delivery to store shelves.

Which US state produces the most apples?

Washington State
Washington State currently produces over half the Nation’s domestically grown apples and has been the leading apple-growing State since the early 1920s. In 2009, Washington State produced 5.4 billion pounds of apples.

How is energy currently harvested in the US?

As far back as we have data, most of the energy used in the U.S. has come from coal, oil and natural gas. In 2018, those “fossil fuels” fed about 80% of the nation’s energy demand, down slightly from 84% a decade earlier.

What is energy source for agriculture?

Potential alternative energy sources for the rural agricultural sector are biomass (including fuel wood, sawdust, crop and animal residue/waste and biogas), wind, solar power, and small hydropower (Table 2).

Where do apples grow in the United States?

Overview. 32 states in the United States raise apples commercially. The top ten apple producing states are Washington, New York, Michigan, Pennsylvania, California, Virginia, North Carolina, Oregon, Ohio and Idaho (U.S. Apple Association, 2021).

What were apples first used for?

As the United States and Canada were settled, nearly every farm grew some apples. Although some of these apples were very good for eating and cooking, most of the early varieties would be considered poor quality today. Often, they were used for cider, and the ground-up apples were fed to livestock.

How do farmers harvest apples?

Pickers carefully place each apple into a receptacle attached to a foam-lined vacuum tube, which whisks the fruit away at 12 feet per second. “With this machine, the person picks the apple and puts it in the bucket inlet to the tube, and once he drops it in there, no apple touches another apple all the way to the bin.”

How do apple orchards work?

Apple trees are generally produced by grafting (attaching a piece of an existing tree to a root stock to form a new tree) or from seeds. One benefit of grafted trees is they will bear fruit much more quickly than those grown from seed- with grafted trees, you can even get a tree that bears fruit the first year.

How are energy inputs used to grow crops?

Soil nourishes seeds, water allows them to grow, the sun’s rays are converted into energy via chlorophyll, and humans labor to harvest crops. However, more complex agricultural inputs require a lot of energy.

How does agriculture get most of its energy?

Agricultural production gets most of the energy it needs from humans and the environment. Soil nourishes seeds, water allows them to grow, the sun’s rays are converted into energy via chlorophyll, and humans labor to harvest crops. However, more complex agricultural inputs require a lot of energy.

Where does the United States get its apples from?

Imports The United States does import fresh apples to make up for lack of production in the late season or before fall harvest. Many of these apples are imported from the Southern Hemisphere. Only five percent of the apples consumed in the United States are imported (U.S. Apple Association, 2018).

How big is the apple crop in the United States?

Apples are one of the most valuable fruit crops in the United States. The 2017 apple crop totaled just over 11.4 billion pounds, up 30 million pounds from 2016. The utilized apple crop was just over 11 billion pounds. (NASS 2018) 32 states in the United States raise apples commercially.