Campus Units
Agronomy
Document Type
Book Chapter
Publication Version
Published Version
Publication Date
2009
Journal or Book Title
Grassland: Quietness and Strength for a New American Agriculture
First Page
205
Last Page
219
Abstract
Human life has depended on renewable sources of bioenergy for many thousands of years, since the time humans fi rst learned to control fi re and utilize wood as the earliest source of bioenergy. The exploitation of forage crops constituted the next major technological breakthrough in renewable bioenergy, when our ancestors began to domesticate livestock about 6000 years ago. Horses, cattle, oxen, water buffalo, and camels have long been used as sources of mechanical and chemical energy. They perform tillage for crop production, provide leverage to collect and transport construction materials, supply transportation for trade and migratory routes, and create manure that is used to cook meals and heat homes. Forage crops—many of which form the basis of Grass: The 1948 Yearbook of Agriculture (Stefferud, 1948), as well as the other chapters of this volume—have composed the principal or only diet of these draft animals since the dawn of agriculture.
Rights
Works produced by employees of the U.S. Government as part of their official duties are not copyrighted within the U.S. The content of this document is not copyrighted.
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Casler, M. D.; Heaton, E.; Shinners, K. J.; Jung, H. G.; Weimer, P. J.; Liebig, M. A.; Mitchell, R. B.; and Digman, M. F., "Grasses and Legumes for Cellulosic Bioenergy" (2009). Agronomy Publications. 303.
https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/agron_pubs/303
Included in
Agricultural Science Commons, Agronomy and Crop Sciences Commons, Oil, Gas, and Energy Commons
Comments
This is a chapter from M. D. Casler, E. Heaton, K. J. Shinners, H. G. Jung, P. J. Weimer, M. A. Liebig, R. B. Mitchell, and M. F. Digman. "Grasses and Legumes for Cellulosic Bioenergy". pp 205-219. In Grassland Quietness and Strength for a New American Agriculture. W. F. Wedin, S. L. Fales, editors, 2009. ASA, CSSA, SSSA, Madison, WI.