By TIM THORNBERRY
Kentucky Correspondent

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Last fall Gov. Steve Beshear announced a program to use $850,000 worth of federal stimulus funds to help Kentucky’s farmers implement approved energy efficiency cost-share measures.

Those funds would provide 25 percent reimbursement of the actual cost of a federally-qualified energy saving item, up to $10,000, according to information from the Governor’s Office of Agricultural Policy (GOAP). Those items could include, but are not limited to, energy audits, energy efficient farm building components and on-farm energy upgrades or energy efficiency training.

Recently, several producers were awarded $481,690 in those On-Farm Energy Efficiency & Production Incentives grants. Combined with 2009 recipients, $680,000 has been awarded in Kentucky so far.

“In October 2009, I announced the availability of stimulus funds for on-farm energy efficiency improvements to Kentucky,” said Beshear. “I am pleased to announce that 52 farm families were able to take advantage of this opportunity to improve farm energy efficiency or biomass production.”

A committee made up of representatives from the GOAP, the Kentucky Agricultural Development Board, the University of Kentucky (UK) College of Agriculture and a Rural Electric Cooperative reviewed and scored the grant applications. A representative from USDA Rural Development and the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet each served in an ex-officio role.

Roger Thomas, GOAP executive director, said the grants will help state farms lead the way in energy efficiency. “These on-farm energy efficiency incentive grants represent only a small part of Kentucky’s State Energy Program award,” he said. “But they will provide enormous benefit to Kentucky’s farm families and position Kentucky agriculture as a leader in on-farm energy efficiency.”

A wide range of projects have been awarded funds. Robert Klingenfus and his wife, Angie, operate a dairy in Oldham County and a grant will help make their milking operation more energy-resourceful.

“We applied for an energy efficiency grant that makes three changes: replace our vacuum pump, lighting in the barn and a minor change in our heat recovery system,” Robert Klingenfus said. “We are replacing our constant speed vacuum pump and air regulator with a variable speed vacuum pump.

“This change should reduce our electric bill by about $1,400 per year and our milk production cost by about seven cents per cwt. The reduced noise and extended pump life are also a big benefit.”

The problem with his current vacuum pump, according to Klingenfus, is it is constantly trying to remove any air from the system, while the regulator is constantly letting air enter the system to reduce the vacuum, creating extra work for the pump and wasted energy.

Klingenfus also noted they were losing energy when heating water to 170 degrees for one equipment-cleaning wash cycle, and then cooling it back to a lower temperature for the other wash cycles. A $90 plumbing change is expected to save about 95 gallons of propane, or over $200 a year.

He is also replacing four 8-foot T-12 bulbs with more efficient T-8 bulbs. “We anticipate saving 2000 kilowatt hours per year with this change, or about $160 annually,” he said.

While the application process took some time, Klingenfus credited people from various agencies who helped, including the ag development board and people at the GOAP.

“That group has made sure that money was spent well,” he said. “There is no way I could have done this without those people helping me and wanting to help me.”

Dr. Sam McNeill, an associate extension professor and specialist at UK, helped in some assessing duties – particularly those proposals involving grain dryers.

He said there was heightened interest from producers for adequate drying capacity, especially after last year’s wet crop.

“It was kind of a wake-up call for some of the folks that had dryer systems that had maybe been sitting there for a while and hadn’t been used. In 2009, there was a lot of pressure on dryers, more than had been in many years,” he said.

McNeill explained dryers can be expensive to run; some producers with sizable operations were spending tens of thousands of dollars in gas bills.

While the cost of gas was cheaper in 2009 than the previous year, drying more efficiently is in the forefront of many farmers’ minds, which was evident in the number of grant proposals being turned in regarding drying systems, noted McNeill.

Part of his assessment was to look at different dryers to determine which ones would be most efficient. Many dryers being used by producers had been installed in the 1970s, said McNeill, who added the economic life of a dryer is only about 20 years.

He also said it is important to get the proper ratio of airflow to the amount of grain in the dryer and to have sensors in place to prevent over-drying. “All those things together will help farmers control drying costs and make them more efficient,” said McNeill.

He said the poultry sector was another that expressed interest in grants. Adding insulation to barns can help control energy costs, along with installing more efficient fans and lights – changeovers that ultimately lower energy bills.

While making use of more energy-friendly equipment works, McNeill said being a little more cognizant of the energy being used is helpful, as well. “Just turning out the lights, like we do at home, and conserving energy in common sense ways like that can help quite a bit, and it does add up in a year’s time,” he said.