A feature article from the online version of "Amber Waves" (a magazine of the United States Department of Agriculture Economics Research Service, USDA-ERS) describes scenarios on how the agricultural landscape can change with increased cultivation of corn and other bioenergy crops for biofuel production. The Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007 (United States) contains provisions for a Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) mandating an increase in the supply of alternative fuel sources by requiring fuel producers to use at least 36 billion gallons of biofuel by 2022. This includes 15 billion gallons of "conventional" (i.e. "corn") ethanol by 2015, and 21 billion gallons of non-corn ethanol by 2022. Among the impacts are: (1) expanded crop acreage due to the federal mandate, including shifts in cropping patterns and livestock production due to higher prices for corn and other grain crops, (2) the "extent of agricultural land in production and intensity of input use increases the potential for environmental degradation", (3) environmental impacts of increased biofuel cultivation may be mitigated by research for improvement of crop productivity and conversion efficiency, as well as conservation practices like no-till and buffer strips. Access to the full article is available at the online version of Amber Waves (URL above)..