NSW Farmers energy fact sheets and case studies

Every dairy farmer wants to get a better return on the money they invest in powering the farm.  While most producers have worked to maximise the productivity of their herds and milking practices, energy productivity in dairy has been under researched and is generally poorly understood by producers.  NSWFarmers believes that most dairy farmers can achieve some quick wins and also significant long term gains.  

There are many ways to reduce dairy energy bills, including increasing pumping and cooling efficiency, smarter approaches to energy purchasing, insulation and efficient lighting,  and investment in solar power plus battery storage.   Audits and case studies conducted by NSW Farmers on members' dairies have found that usually a combination of measures is needed to achieve worthwhile savings. These range from minor practice changes to significant investment in new technology. 

We have developed a suite of resources to help producers understand the issues and potential solutions.  Use the links below to navigate to the resource.  Note that new resources are being added regularly, including more case studies, so please check back. 

Case studies

1. Binowee Diary

Calculators

1. Solar battery financial calculator
2. Farm energy planning calculator (pdf)

Fact sheets

Renewable energy

1. Renewable energy on farm: overview (pdf)  
2. Solar photovoltaic energy on farm (pdf) 
3. Farm scale wind power (pdf)

Energy purchasing 

1. Purchasing liquid fuels (pdf)  
2. Effective energy purchasing - Electricity (pdf) 
3. Natural gas purchasing (pdf)

Pumping efficiency

1. Solar PV pumping systems (pdf) 
2. Diesel versus electric pumps (pdf) 
3. Oversized pumps waste energy (pdf) 
4. Variable speed drives on pumps (pdf) 
5. Maintaining pumps saves energy (pdf)

Energy in farm buildings

1. Energy efficient farm buildings (pdf)  
2. Energy efficient cool rooms and refrigeration (pdf) 
3. Insulating farm buildings (pdf) 
4. Reflective roofs and energy efficiency (pdf) 
5. Refrigeration - variable evaporator fan speed (pdf) 
6. Compressed air systems: air leak reduction (pdf) 
7. Compressed air: minimising pressure drop (pdf) 
8. Energy efficient farm lighting (pdf) 
9. Energy savings from high efficiency motors (pdf) 
10. Power factor correction (pdf) 
11. Voltage optimisation units (pdf) 
12. Solar hot water (pdf)

Energy Planning 

1. Farm energy planning (pdf)