When you think about reducing energy costs on your dairy farm, your animal housing and milking parlor present some of the largest opportunities for energy savings.

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Kyle Booth

You may already be using energy-efficient equipment such as variable-speed drives for your milking vacuum pump and milk pump, high-efficiency compressors, plate coolers and energy-efficient lighting and ventilation. After taking these steps, make sure you look “beyond the barn” to find other ways to reduce your energy use.

Office and break areas

Think about what other spaces you have on your dairy. Don’t forget to look at energy-efficient lighting for your office and break room areas. While the lighting in these spaces may not be in constant use, it all adds up over time.

Lighting still represents one of the most cost-effective replacements for the farm, particularly when many electricity providers offer energy-efficient lighting at a greatly reduced cost. If you are currently using incandescent or T-12 lights in your office areas, consider upgrading to CFLs, T-8s, T-5s or LEDs.

If you’re looking at replacing appliances or office equipment used on the farm, consider an EnergyStar model. The label is used for consumer appliances such as refrigerators, washing machines, computers and photocopiers to designate lower energy use compared to standard products. In many cases, you won’t pay any more compared to a standard-efficiency model, and your local electric utility may have rebates to help offset any higher cost.

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Irrigation

Your irrigated crops present many opportunities for energy and water savings, both of which can add up to significant cost savings. Optimizing farm irrigation systems can have a considerable impact on pumping costs, water usage and crop yield.

Some common practices for maximizing irrigation efficiency include:

  • Switching from diesel- or gas-powered engines to electric-powered pumping plants
  • Irrigation scheduling using tensiometers
  • Using deficit irrigation in some conditions
  • Using variable-frequency drives where appropriate
  • Changing your water delivery method
  • Ensuring irrigation piping is properly sized
  • Utilizing low-pressure nozzles where appropriate

There are also many low-cost maintenance activities that can help you save water and energy. These include switching your irrigation to off-peak hours when electricity is cheaper, performing a pump and well test at least every two years, regularly inspecting your well to check for clogging or corrosion, checking for leaks, checking for wear and tear on the nozzles, ensuring there are no obstructions at the water inlet and monitoring water use with a flow meter.

An energy audit can also help identify which practices are best suited to your operation and how much energy and water you can expect to save.

Tractors and implements

Another easy way to save energy in your field operations is to take a closer look at your tractor maintenance. The following low-cost activities will help ensure your tractors are running as cleanly as possible and not wasting any diesel fuel:

  • Replace air and fuel filters regularly.
  • Check tire pressures frequently and replace worn tires.
  • Use the proper ballast for each operation.
  • Do not idle diesel engines over 10 minutes.
  • Clean dirty fuel injectors.
  • Keep ground-engaging tools sharp.
  • Use the right tractor for the job. (Match the horsepower to the load.)
  • Combine trips whenever possible by modifying equipment if necessary.
  • Use engine block heater timers if you frequently have below-freezing weather.

Environmental management

Anaerobic digesters help dairies process their manure while also providing energy for the farm. Digesters do not necessarily “save” energy because they actually generate electricity, although they certainly replace the energy a farm would ordinarily consume from a local utility. Plus, digesters create a sharp decrease in greenhouse gas emissions coming from the dairy as well as nutrient loading into local watersheds.

Digesters have traditionally been cost-effective for large dairies only, but several companies are making digesters an option for smaller farms. These companies are creating innovation with new designs that reduce the cost of these systems and are also looking at alternative revenue sources from the digester in addition to electricity.

These revenue sources include byproducts, such as fertilizers and animal bedding, and selling some of the captured methane and nutrients as “credits” in emerging environmental markets. These developments will allow more and more dairies of all sizes to generate their own electricity, better manage their manure and create new revenue streams.

Taken together, there are many ways dairy producers can look beyond the barn to save energy in unexpected places. With only so many ways to cut operating costs on the dairy farm, smart operators are taking a closer look at their energy and water bills and figuring out ways to cut those costs and create other benefits for their farms.  PD

PHOTO: Photo by Mike Dixon.

Kyle Booth