11-12 FB Energy Audit

 Producers interested in applying for several popular Natural Resources Conservation Service programs may be very interested in a program that helps to conserve electrical energy by maximizing energy efficiency.

 The program falls under what is known asEQIP which is a pseudonym for Environmental Quality Incentives Program which helps agricultural producers complete resource conservation projects and make conservation-related management changes on their farms or ranches. 

 The On-Farm Energy Initiative offers producers the opportunity to develop Agricultural Energy Management Plans that assess their farms’ energy consumption for equipment and farm facilities. Or it can help producers to implement conservation practices identified in their Agricultural Energy Management Plan. Here is Ron Brooks, EQIP Program Manager: “Do you go out and work with producers to show them how to save electricity? Yes. What the producer is required to do is get an approved energy audit that is done on their operation. We are talking everything at the headquarters, looking at all the pumps for irrigation systems, pretty much everything that uses energy on their whole operation. They take a complete inventory on what their present energy use is and what kind of improvements can be put in place to save electricity.” And by the way, the energy audit can be worked out to be free.