Agricultural Intensification has presented various opportunities for study in the field of water use, crop trends and energy consumption. In the United States alone, 70% of water consumed is used for the agricultural sector. Whether sources from surface bodies or groundwater, the energy required to irrigate fields has changed over the last three decades. The advent of efficient irrigation systems has created new avenues for farmers to grow crops, through new planting practices, increased water extractions and varied on-farm practices. In this thesis, I evaluate the impact that shifting technologies have had on the FEW nexus, with a strong emphasis on the Energy consumption from irrigation. In Chapter 1, I developed an energy model for Kansas, one of the states with the highest data availability for farm practices. I used a combination of state and federal datasets to estimate the impact of shifting irrigation technologies on energy consumption. The results of this study are then investigated by energy source and a life cycle assessment model is applied to understand the role of shifting energy sources on the agricultural system. For Chapter 2, I expanded my energy model to encompass the continental United States. I estimate county level aggregates of direct energy consumed for irrigation. The results are then leveraged by agricultural region, and the crop types are evaluated spatially. Understanding how energy consumption in the agricultural sector is distributed both spatially and temporally can become a key asset when determining how to improve water practices, which regions need further study, and develop spatial relationships.
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