01/22/09 Propane savings part II

As Idaho farmers along with all Americans are encouraged to look for energy independence and energy sources other than gasoline and diesel, one natural resource that keeps popping up is propane. In yesterday's report, we learned that converting certain types of farm machinery to propane might be a cost saving option. Propane industry officials say that propane is a very efficient and clean burning fossil fuel and that more than 600,000 U.S. farms use propane to run generators and other farm equipment. Propane proponents say that this cleaning fuel doesn't leave significant lead, varnish or carbon deposits that cause pre-mature wear in engines and this, in turn, leads to a reduction of maintenance needs and costs. So, ag producers who are looking to reduce input costs may want to think about propane. Propane expert Mark Leitman says that farmers can upgrade grain drying systems to save money. "We know that there are a lot of systems out there that are 30-40 years old and those systems are prime candidates for upgrading to new faster and more efficient systems. New systems require fewer BTU's to dry a bushel of grain so we can see reductions of 30% or more in energy use to dry grain by upgrading equipment and even if you can't upgrade equipment, there might be some steps you can take to make that equipment more efficient through regular maintenance and maybe replacing some key components of the systems."