This story was originally published on machinefinder.com: http://blog.machinefinder.com/10156/why-agriculture-resources-should-be-put-to-better-use

The U.S. should develop new ways to improve how land resources are used, which will be necessary as the demand for food and biofuels continues to rise, says Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

Vilsack recently sat down with the Bloomberg for an interview, where he stated that the global demand for food, coupled with America’s need to increase trade and adopt more alternative fuels, will force U.S. producers to not only step up to the plate, but also identify more uses for individual crops.

“We’re not utilizing our landed resources as much as we could,” he said. If the U.S. agriculture industry can derive more productivity from the land through innovative and efficient crop rotations, it would “actually aid conservation, conserve water” and “restore the soil”, he added.

Producers could also create new feed stocks that could be used to generate energy, and develop bio-based products that would “take some of the pressure off of corn,” the country’s largest crop that is the primary ingredient in ethanol.

According to the most recent USDA forecasts, this year’s corn harvest could be the worst since 2006 due to the drought – the worst in five decades – that hit the nation’s biggest growing region. About two-fifths of this year’s corn will be used to produce ethanol.