By DOUG SCHMITZ
Iowa Correspondent

JOHNSTON, Iowa — With harvest season fast approaching, an Iowa Soybean Assoc. (ISA) official says there are many simple, innovative ways that farmers can find to help cut energy costs, that are actually available right on their own operations.

“Selecting corn varieties that dry down better and quicker in the field and harvesting at just 2 percent less moisture had a significant impact on their propane and/or electricity usage,” said Heath Ellison, ISA agricultural environmental specialist.
An ISA study conducted last fall found that farmers could be more energy-efficient, while focusing on increased productivity and cost efficiency.

“Many of the farmers looked at switching to a no-till system for growing their soybeans,” Ellison added. “By eliminating tillage before a soybean crop, the farmers reduced the total energy needed to grow the soybean crop by one-half.”

Entitled Certified Environmental Management Systems for Agriculture (CEMSA) Energy Planning and Assessment Project – Review and Key Findings, the study asked nine crop consultants to work with 51 Iowa farmers to analyze the energy usage on their farms, comparing practices such as different tillage passes, rotations, nutrient rates and drying systems.

After evaluating 218 different corn production scenarios and 116 soybean production scenarios, the 51 farmers participating in the study then analyzed the impact of those practices on energy efficiency. The study indicated that the use of the conversion factor GDFE/Ac (Gallons Diesel Fuel Equivalent per Acre) was essential to comparing the impact of practices using different sources of energy, while an index expressing yield (Bu/Ac) per unit of energy (GDFE/Ac) would allow for evaluating efficiency changes over time.
“Depending on equipment and type of tillage, this will save 0.5 to 1.5 gallons diesel per acre or at current prices, roughly $2 to $6 per acre, plus labor costs and equipment wear and tear,” Ellison said.
While many U.S. farms still use incandescent lighting, the report stated that fluorescent lighting saves up to 75 percent.

“On larger operations that have many lights on all day, 365 days, this is a lot of money,” said Mark Kingland, Alliant Energy technical sales support consultant. “New fluorescent lighting is greatly improved with more lighting options than before.

“For most applications, I recommend the 5,000 K type, which gives the best color for most working apps.”

Kingland said process improvement holds the most potential for savings, especially for many operations that leave pit fans running when the ventilation curtains open.

“After the curtains open, the building loses its negative static pressure and the pit fans are no longer providing any ventilation benefit. Fans are running for no reason, wasting energy,” he said.
“Making sure that fans are clean and shutters are working is another big item. I see a lot of dirt buildup and loose belts. ISU engineers have tested 25-50 percent loss in efficiency from dirty fans and loose belts. Making sure that fan controllers are properly set can make a huge difference.”

Kingland said process improvement also works well for grain operations, which have two real potentials: grain drying and grain storage.

“For grain drying, new dryers that use the ‘pressure heat-suction cool’ principle rather than the older ‘pressure heat-pressure cool’ principle are 30 to 50 percent more energy efficient,” he said.
“If possible, dumping grain hot out of the grain dryer and allowing to slowly cool in the storage bin will also save extra energy.”

Kingland said most of the energy savings with improved grain drying would ultimately translate into gas savings, as well.
“We have done extensive energy analysis comparing hundreds of actual grain drying operations,” he said. “The other large part for grain operations is grain storage. Fans are used to run air through the stored grain to maintain condition during storage and not spoil.
“With proper management fans needing only run enough to keep grain in condition, this is usually much less than the fans are actually run. Many times, aeration fans are run for a period of time once a month whether they need to or not, just to be safe. With good physical observation or an automatic control system, the amount of time they run can be significantly reduced.”

While the ISA study didn’t focus on technology, Ellison said it wanted to help farmers improve energy efficiency without incurring new costs.

“While the results are important and interesting, our message isn’t that a farmer needs to adopt a certain practice to be more energy efficient,” he said. ”It is that each farmer needs to use a process and tools to evaluate their own operation, and decide what’s most effective for their operation.”

Mike Tidman, ISA environmental communications director, said he would advise farmers wanting to revamp their operations to be more energy efficient to start fine-tuning everything on their individual farms.

“Can you get by without that extra tillage pass? Are you harvesting your driest corn first?” he said. “Little tweaks to your operation can have a significant impact on your fuel bills and the energy efficiency of your cropping operation.”