With America’s farmers continuing to face high energy costs, help is on the way in the form of Headquarters Agricultural Energy Management Plans, AgEMPs, commonly called on-farm energy audits, but many states have application deadlines upcoming in the first quarter of 2013.
Environmental Quality Incentives Program funding is available through the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service for farm energy audits and equipment upgrades. Farm energy audits can generally identify energy savings between 10 percent and 35 percent of total energy use, which enables farmers to take more control of their energy use and increase their energy independence.
EnSave is one provider of farm energy audits, and can provide AgEMPs to farmers throughout the U.S. The firm is a registered Technical Service Provider for the NRCS. “[In 2012] we are proud to have completed several hundred AgEMPs,” said Craig Metz, EnSave’s president. “We’re looking forward to working with more producers in 2013 in order to identify simple ways to save energy on the farm.”
The AgEMP includes a review of current energy use for all fuels, specific recommendations for energy efficiency and payback periods for recommended equipment. The AgEMP can also be used to access additional NRCS funding for implementation of energy efficient equipment.
