Spotlight on energy savings: Upgrading to LEDs on the farm

LEDs have become extremely popular because they produce excellent light using far less energy, reduce maintenance, and can even offer production benefits for livestock and crops.

The cost of LED lighting has come down dramatically in recent years, too, making payback even faster. On top of that, electric utility rebates and Property-Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing have made paying for it even easier.

A family dairy farm worked with their electric utility to explore energy efficiency opportunities. They landed on LED lighting upgrades, among other dairy technology improvements. Just switching their dairy parlor lights from fluorescent tubes to LED tubes resulted in hundreds of dollars a year in energy savings and hundreds of dollars in one-time utility rebates.

A 2013 study of LED lighting in turkey barns showed that switching to LED lighting led to calmer birds and no measurable poultry production decrease—that was on top of an average energy savings of $2,000 per barn from upgrading to LEDs, a payback of three years or less.

Beyond LED lighting, other on-farm energy-saving opportunities depend on the operation. High-impact technologies include variable frequency drives, automated controllers, high efficiency grain dryers, refrigeration heat recovery, and high efficiency space and water heating.

To find out what opportunities you have to save, you can get an on-farm energy assessment tailored to your operation. The assessment will help you determine the amount of energy used by the entire operation, and identify the short- and long-term measures you can implement to conserve energy and achieve greater production efficiencies. Often your electric utility will offer some form of energy assessment—contact them to learn more.

Most farms have plenty of room for solar arrays that can significantly offset their electricity use and provide a long-term hedge against rising energy prices. A federal tax credit, accelerated depreciation, other incentives, and PACE financing all combine to make a strong case for solar.