Advances in agricultural technology has become an important partner in the ongoing battle to combat the man-made causes of greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming.

According to a new report published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, high yield agriculture that has helped to feed an ever increasing global population has also kept greenhouse gas emissions from growing as a result of the advent high yield technology.

The Green Revolution of the late 20th centuryhas increased crop yields worldwide and researchers have found it has also avoided the release of nearly 600 billion tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.

“That’s about 20 years of fossil fuel burning at present rates,” said study co-author Steven Davis of the Carnegie Institution’s Department of Global Ecology. “Our results dispel the notion that industrial agricultural with its petrochemicals are inherently worse for the climate than a more ‘old-fashioned’ way of doing things.”

Agricuture is still a major source of greenhouse gases and high-yield crop varieties have also increased agriculture’s reliance on pesticides, fertilizers, and mechanization.

But in researching the net effects of  Green Revolution crops on greenhouse gas emissions during the period between 1961 and 2005, researchers found that while modern agriculture requires more energy and increases greenhouse gas emissions per unit of food output than did the lower-input methods of the past, yields have increased by 135 percent, reducing the amount of cropland needed to produce the same amount of food.

Without these advances, the study found that the conversion of vast natural areas to agriculture would have caused much more greenhouse gas emissions—the equivalent of nearly 600 billion tons of CO2 since 1961.

“Converting a forest or some scrubland to an agricultural area causes a lot of natural carbon in that ecosystem to be oxidized and lost to the atmosphere” said Davis. “What our study shows is that these indirect impacts from converting land to agriculture outweigh the direct emissions that come from the modern, intensive style of agriculture.”

The researchers also calculated the benefits of investing in agricultural research as a strategy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

They estimate that since 1961 agricultural research has averted carbon dioxide emissions at a cost of about $4 per ton of CO2. The potential for emissions reduction compares favorably with other strategies. Agricultural advances have prevented about 13 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year, much more than the estimated 1.8 billion tons obtainable by improvements in energy supply or the estimated 1.7 billion from improved transportation systems.

“Agricultural research is one of the cheapest ways of preventing greenhouse gas emissions,” says Davis. “And if the past few decades are a guide, it is also a large source of potential reduction.”

The advent of high yield agriculture has also allowed the use of corn to be converted to biofuel, which helps to lower greenhouse emissions from vehicles. Because of advances in high yield agriculture, corn yields have dramatically increased over the last 15 years, such in Nebraska. That has allowed for the development of the state’s ethanol industry, which, in return, adds value to the state’s economy. The ethanol industry would have never grown to its present size based on corn yields more than 25 years when the ethanol industry started in the state. Nebraska is less than a generation away from corn production of more than 2 billion bushels on basically the same amount of land corn farmers plant today. Plenty of corn for both food production and fuel production.

While there’s still much work to be done to reduce agriculture’s carbon footprint, research advances and the technology that has resulted from those advances over the last 50 years have established a technological footprint for agriculture to build upon in finding solutions to feed the population in a way that will continuously minimize damage to the environment.

State officials Monday report that 60 Nebraska counties are considering requesting disaster assistance as a result of recent storms that have caused flooding and damage to facilities across the state. Currently 44 counties have requested assistance from the state.  The State of Nebraska is currently coordinating with emergency management officials throughout the state as we respond to storm affected areas.

 Gov. Dave Heineman issued a disaster declaration on Friday and has authorized the use of the State’s resources in responding to damage caused by strong thunderstorms, high winds, tornados, flooding, rain and hail across Nebraska.

 The Nebraska Emergency Management Agency, Department of Roads, National Guard, Health and Human Services, State Fire Marshal, State Patrol, Department of Environmental Quality, the Department of Natural Resources, and other key state agencies are working with the full support of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, National Weather Service, U.S. Corps of Engineers, and the American Red Cross are addressing the health and life safety concerns.

 As of Monday, state officials report six initial assessment teams which include NEMA staff, National Guard and DHHS staff are being deployed to areas across the state to conduct a needs assessment related to the health and life safety concerns of citizens, and to coordinate any state responses needed.  Their secondary focus will be to assess private and public property damage, where National Guard members will be teamed with NEMA and DHHS personnel. Guard members are currently expected to be deployed to areas in or around Omaha, Columbus, Norfolk, and Holt, Cherry, Custer, and Morrill Counties.

 According to state officials Monday afternoon, damage has occurred to at least 20 bridges, four dams, and numerous roads throughout the state. S

pecific damages are currently being assessed. Information on roads and bridges can be accessed through www.511nebraska.org.

 Residents in flooded areas are encouraged to use caution.  Flooding concerns include, but are not limited to, issues related to physical structure stability, sanitation, drinking water, various types of fuel storage, and electrical and mechanical safety equipment that may have been affected.

For more information visit: http://www.dhhs.ne.gov/newsroom/features/SevereStorms

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Nebraska Water Science Center reported Monday that rainfall over the past few days in central Nebraska has resulted in high water and some flooding in the Platte, Elkhorn, Loup, Niobrara, Republican, and Little Blue River basins.

USGS said the Elkhorn and Loup basins have been hardest hit; this area of the state is dominated by the Nebraska Sand Hills, which has extremely porous soils, not typically subject to flooding.

Two streamgages have broken long-standing records: the North Loup at Taylor streamgage reached its highest flow since USGS began recording water measurements at that site 73 years ago; and Elkhorn at Ewing streamgage reached its highest peak for both water level and flow since recording began 62 years ago.

In addition, USGS reported that some infrastructure damage has been reported at the North Loup at Taylor site where high water caused an irrigation diversion to fail above North Loup River near Taylor, Nebraska. The US Hwy 183 bridge at the streamgage collapsed, but the streamgage there has continued to operate.

“Our field crews have been scrambling around submerged highways to find ways to access our streamgages,” USGS Nebraska Water Science Center Associate Director for Hydrologic Data Jason Lambrecht said. “Trying to monitor stream flow with all the obstacles and debris in the fast-moving water has been challenging. This weather definitely is putting our rain gear to good use.” About seven USGS crews currently are in the field collecting data and repairing streamgages.

Near real-time Nebraska stage and streamflow information (updated via satellite every one to four hours) is available at the USGS National Water Information System Web site .  Use USGS WaterAlert to receive updates via e-mail or text message to monitor rising water in Nebraska rivers.

USGS said that 30 percent (17) of the long-term streamgages (58) in the state were at record high conditions for June 13. Storm totals at some locations in the central and northeast part of the state exceeded 12 inches. Rain that fell in the central and western part of the state, likely will cause water levels in the eastern downstream parts of the Elkhorn and Platte rivers to remain high this week.

With heavy spring rains causing extensive flooding in many areas of Nebraska, Greg Ibach, Director of the Nebraska Department of Agriculture (NDA), is reminding producers, experiencing damage to crops or loss of livestock, to contact their local United States Department of Agriculture (UDSA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) office to report their losses.

“The NDA and the Governor’s Office work in partnership with USDA FSA to secure federal agricultural disaster designations through Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. The designations are necessary to open up some federal assistance programs,” said Ibach. “The loss assessment process begins at the county FSA office level.”

Ibach also encouraged producers to be in contact with their insurance agent as soon as possible.

“The Nebraska Department of Agriculture is aware of the extensive flooding to farmland. We will continue to share information with FSA, industry organizations, and other partners in order to assist farmers and ranchers as much as possible.”