The summer months bring on warm weather and call for air conditioning. People can expect their energy bills to rise during these months, but farmers face high energy bills year-round. The summer months only amplify the high energy use that farms require to stay operating.
Scott Sanford, Emeritus Extension Ag Engineer at UW-Madison, outlines what energy use looks like for a typical Wisconsin dairy farm and shares some tips for cutting back on farm energy use.
Sanford explains that one cow uses about the same amount of energy per year as the average household consumes in one month. However, they are working to produce milk, which justifies the energy that they use.
Through the summer months, a large portion of energy is allocated towards ventilation on Wisconsin dairy farms. Sanford explained that fans are running 24/7 in order to keep the cows cool.
Some tips that Sanford shared for cutting back on energy use are installing LED light bulbs, utilizing high efficiency fans, and purchasing a variable speed unit to put on the vacuum pump on dairy farms.
To find out more about farm energy efficiency, visit https://fyi.extension.wisc.edu/energy/.
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