Energy
Optimizing energy usage on your operation can help you save money and more efficiently manage your operation while also protecting the soil and water resources on your land. Ways to optimize energy usage include maintaining farm equipment, improving insulation in facilities, and avoiding taking unnecessary trips across farm land.
Inefficient Energy Use
Inefficient energy use of equipment and facilities
Inefficient energy use of farm equipment or facilities can cause spending on energy to increase in order to meet production goals. This can occur when equipment operates more than needed, is outdated or improperly maintained, and when unimproved facilities, such as agricultural buildings, contribute to inefficient energy use when not adequately sealed and insulated.
An electric pump in a rice field in De Valls Bluff, Arkansas
Causes
- Unvented, propane-fired heated systems
- Throttling valves to control water flow
- Using incandescent or T12 lights
- Heat loss from building
- Inefficient pumps
Possible Solutions
- Convert to radiant heating
- Add variable frequency drive pump
- Replace with LED or T8 lighting
- Install air barrier system and insulation
- Replace with high efficiency pumps
Inefficient energy use in farming practices and field operations
Inefficient field operations, such as taking unnecessary trips across the field or overlapping areas when applying fertilizer, can increase your energy costs and use of non-renewable energy sources. Money and energy can be saved by adopting practices that help reduce energy usage.
A harvester crosses a field
Causes
- Unnecessary trips across the field
- Application of commercial fertilizer
- Excessive insecticides
Possible Solutions
- Convert to no-till
- Plant nitrogen-fixing legumes
- Implement a Pest Management System
Resources
My Conservation Concerns List
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