Solar Energy Could Offer Significant Savings For Agriculture

Sep 25, 2015

By Tracy Turner

Farmers and agribusinesses can learn more about the benefits of installing solar energy systems as a method to reduce costs — and slash their operations’ environmental impact — during an agricultural solar energy workshop offered at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC) Oct. 1.

Agriculture producers may find that installing such solar energy systems offers significant cost savings, said Fred Michel, event co-planner and associate professor of biosystems engineering in the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences at The Ohio State University.

“In addition, these systems result in the emission of almost no greenhouse gases, reducing a farm’s impact on climate change,” he said.

Ohio State University Extension is sponsoring the event, along with the Wayne County Sustainable Energy Network. OARDC and OSU Extension are the research and outreach arms, respectively, of the college.

Solar energy is electricity or heat produced from sunlight.

“Due to decreases in the cost of solar panels, state and federal incentives for renewable energy, and the experience of Ohio solar installers, the lifetime costs for solar electricity are now usually less than for electricity from the grid,” Michel said. “This helps agricultural producers reduce their costs and their environmental impact, both of which are essential to their future productivity.”

These kinds of systems are a good option for agricultural producers, who often have a long time horizon to recoup capital investments, as well as roof and other space available for solar panel installation, he said.

“Solar energy can be used on farms directly and/or sent to the grid and used to offset electricity use later in the year via net metering,” Michel said.

The workshop will feature the following topics:

Considerations for On-Farm Solar Development, including overall energy trends, energy policy, on-farm solar development, a financial overview, and considerations for reviewing a solar energy proposal.
Information on the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP), offered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Through REAP, agricultural producers and rural small businesses (defined as those generating 50 percent or more of their income from agricultural products) may be eligible for a grant that can pay for up to 25 percent of the total project costs of an energy efficiency improvement or solar energy project.
Installer Perspectives.

The workshop is from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in Thorne Hall, room 200, 1680 Madison Ave., on the OARDC campus in Wooster.

Source:osu.edu

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.