Energy Conservation/Efficiency

The educational materials listed on this page are about Energy Conservation/Efficiency.

The conservation of farm energy is important to both its environmental and economic sustainability. For example, efficiency on the farm is particularly important during colder months in order to reduce greenhouse energy use for vegetable farmers. Likewise, farmers growing row crops may find that fuels used to run equipment cut into the cost of production. Agricultural efficiency can be achieved by conducting a farm energy audit to determine the best ways to cut down on energy use. SARE’s resources can help you determine the best ways to increase efficiency on your farm. Key practices include byproduct utilizationbioenergy and biofuelsbiodieselbiofuel feedstocksenergy use and consumptionenergy conservation/efficiencyrenewable energysolar energywind powergeothermal.

SARE’s book Building a Sustainable Business helps farmers build both a sustainable and profitable business plan that includes renewable energy and biofuel. The SARE bulletin Clean Energy Farming: Cutting Costs, Improving Efficiencies, Harnessing Renewables helps farmers utilize clean energy practices on their operations, which may include utilizing byproducts for biodiesel production and other renewable fuels. The Farm Energy Audits section of the E3A: Energy Education for Producers curriculum includes information on many operational areas that can see improved agricultural efficiency through the use of a farm energy audit, including equipment, grain drying, irrigation and livestock watering systems, the farm shop, livestock buildings and more. The Farm Energy Topic Room provides a wealth of information on clean energy topics, including biodiesel, farm energy audits, solar and wind energy, and more.

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Northeast Farm Energy IQ

Farm Energy IQ offers free information to help farmers enhance operational sustainability in the context of the farm economy and ecosystem.

Climate Change and Sustainable Agriculture: Curriculum and Handbook

To help educate farmers and agricultural professionals on climate change and agriculture topics, Julie Doll and a team of researchers at the Kellogg Biological Station have developed a handbook and a curriculum as products of a NCR-SARE Professional Development Program grant.

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Integrating Traditional Foods with Aquaponics in the Desert Southwest

The Challenge Cochise County, Arizona, where Aaron Cardona’s Arevalos Farm is located, is classified by the USDA as a food desert with high poverty rates, as well as high rates of diabetes and obesity. To help confront these problems, Cardona decided to look into aquaponics, which had not been experimented with in the desert regions […]

Dan West next to a solar collector

From Fruit to Fuel

As tree fruit growers know well, annual harvests do not remove all the fruit from the orchard. A great deal is left behind littering the orchard floor. While pondering his fruit waste problem, Dan West of Macon, Mo., who grows apples, peaches, apricots, nectarines, plums and pears, hit upon a novel approach: Why not turn […]

Que es la Agricultura Sustentable

¿Qué es la Agricultura Sustentable?

Este reporte ganador de un premio provee un muestrario de mejores prácticas en la agricultura sustentable – desde el mercadeo y la vitalidad de la comunidad hasta cultivos de cobertura y pastoreo – así como ocho perfiles de productores, educadores e investigadores que las han implementado con éxito. 

Exploring Energy Efficiency and Alternatives Curriculum

According to Sarah Hamlen, Montana State University Extension, and Milton Grieger, University of Wyoming Extension, Western producers’ profitability is closely linked to the consumption and production of energy resources. Decisions made by these producers on energy issues have long-term implications for the sustainability of agricultural production, they assert. To increase producers’ knowledge of energy issues, […]

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Sustainable Bioenergy Course

In association with an NCR-SARE Professional Development Program grant, the Bioenergy Training Center, in collaboration with the Farm Energy CoP, has developed a Sustainable Bioenergy Course to provide educational training resources focused not only on the technical feasibility of bioenergy generation, but also on approaches and processes that assist communities in understanding the comprehensive implications of bio-based alternative energy. This course can provide foundational materials for teaching undergraduates or for community education sessions.

Greenhouse Energy Conservation Strategies and Alternative Fuels

Many greenhouse growers are looking for options to reduce their energy costs, but they don’t always understand which options will provide the greatest return on investment. For his project, Scott Sanford developed curriculum materials, extension bulletins, resource lists, and a spreadsheet model for educators to use for delivering programming on energy management and conservation for […]

Storage and Utilization of Ethanol Co-Products by Small Cattle Operations

While perennial biomass crops have both environmental and energy benefits over corn ethanol, there are limited commercialscale facilities utilizing biomass feedstocks for liquid fuel production. The expansion of corn ethanol has provided Nebraska with several million tons of animal feeds from ethanol co-products annually. According to Francis John Hay, these ethanol co-product feeds have excellent […]

Biogas: A Renewable Biofuel

A University of Florida website developed as an outcome of SSARE-funded research in biogas production on small farms.

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Cover Crops and No-Till Management for Organic Systems

This Rodale Institute fact sheet reviews the use of cover crops and no-till in organic systems, including selection, establishment and mechanical termination of cover crops; crop rotations; and energy and production budgets.

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New Mexico Grower Saved by the Sun

Perched at the edge of the Sonoran desert, Don Bustos' family farm has always been endowed with ample sunshine and daylight. However, the New Mexico grower had long been bedeviled by cool temperatures that limit the growing season to four or five months. With the short season and rising fuel costs threatening his ability to […]