Farm Energy Calculators: Tools for Saving Money on the Farm

1. Farm Energy Calculators:
Tools for saving money
on the farm
A Publication of ATTRA - National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service • 1-800-346-9140 • www.attra.ncat.org
By Holly Hill Agricultural producers depend on energy, an important input to production. Direct costs of energy,
NCAT Research such as fuel and electricity, paired with indirect energy costs in the form of fertilizers and chemicals, can
Specialist significantly affect farm net revenues, especially as the price of energy continues to rise. Minimizing direct
© 2008 NCAT and indirect energy consumption on farms in the United States can lead to considerable savings.
Contents
Farm energy Figure 1. Total energy directly and indirectly consumed on U.S. farms in 2002 was 1.7 quadrillion Btu.
calculators......................... 2
General farm
calculators......................... 4
Renewable energy
calculators......................... 4
Biofuels and biomass Source: John
calculators......................... 5 Miranowski, Energy
Energy efficiency Consumption in US
calculators......................... 6 Agriculture. In Joe
Outlaw, Keith Collins,
and James Duffield,
eds., Agriculture as a
Producer and
Consumer of Energy,
CABI Publishing,
Cambridge, MA, pp.
68-111, 2005.
Introduction Farm energy calculators are another set of
T
tools to estimate energy consumption and
he fi rst step to reducing farm energy
calculate the cost of various energy inputs
costs is determining where you use
ATTRA – National Sustainable on your farm.
Agriculture Information Service energy in your operation. One way to
is managed by the National Cen- gauge energy use is to have an accredited This publication provides links to a vari-
ter for Appropriate Technology
(NCAT) and is funded under a agency perform an energy audit on your ety of farm energy calculators available
grant from the United States
Department of Agriculture’s Rural
farm. Several organizations provide farm on the Internet. This list is a cross sec-
Business-Cooperative Service. energy audits, which examine existing energy tion of Web-based calculators and is not
Visit the NCAT Web site (www.
ncat.org/sarc_current. consumption and determine opportunities for comprehensive. Keep in mind that each
php) for more informa-
tion on our sustainable
savings through energy efficiency improve- tool has its own limitations and does not
agriculture projects. ments and equipment upgrades. provide farm-specific recommendations.

2. However, by changing user input you can cow operations on your farm or ranch.
begin to evaluate options for simple, cost- The tool estimates savings from efficiency
effective solutions that can cut input costs improvements to lighting, ventilation and
and save money. For more information on heating systems for swine, poultry and
how to increase energy efficiency on your dairy cow housing. The tool also estimates
farm, see the following ATTRA publications: savings for more efficient ways to heat water
Eff icient Agricultural Buildings: An and cool and harvest milk.
Overview, Energy Saving Tips for Irrigators, http://ahat.sc.egov.usda.gov
Maintaining Irrigation Pumps, Motors and
Engines and Conserving Fuel on the Farm. Farm Assessment Toolkit
This online toolkit assesses your farm
Farm energy calculators operation’s energy efficiency, identi-
fies areas for improvement and sug-
USDA-NRCS Energy Estimator:
gests energy-efficient equipment and
Nitrogen
management options. The University of
The Energy Estimator for Nitrogen, devel-
Wisconsin-Extension and Wisconsin’s
oped by the U.S. Department of Agricul-
Focus on Energy, a group that works to
ture’s Natural Resources Conservation
Related ATTRA install cost-effective, energy-efficiency and
Service, enables you to calculate the
publications renewable energy projects, jointly devel-
potential cost savings related to nitrogen
oped the toolkit. Each assessment will take
Efficient Agricultural use on your farm or ranch. NRCS agron-
Buildings: An about 10 to 20 minutes to complete. The
omists developed this model to integrate
Overview assessments collect general information
general technical information on nitrogen
about your operation to help determine if
Energy Saving Tips use with farm-specific information on fer-
you may be able to save energy. At the end
for Irrigators tilizer types, costs, timing and placement.
of each assessment, you will get a report
Maintaining Irrigation http://nfat.sc.egov.usda.gov with your responses and any appropriate
Pumps, Motors and energy tips. After completing an assess-
Engines USDA-NRCS Energy Estimator: ment, you can print out the report and use
Conserving Fuel on Tillage it to guide decisions you make to improve
the Farm This tool estimates diesel fuel use and costs the energy efficiency of your operation.
in the production of key crops in your area You may also wish to contact a Focus
and compares potential energy savings on Energy representative or partner for
between conventional tillage and alterna- additional assistance.
tive tillage systems. www.soils.wisc.edu/foe/login
http://ecat.sc.egov.usda.gov
Alliant Energy Farm Energy Audit
USDA-NRCS Energy Estimator: This calculator, from Alliant Energy, a
Irrigation public utility holding company in Madison,
This tool enables you to estimate the energy Wisconsin, estimates the electric energy
costs of pumping water for irrigation on use of equipment and appliances that
your farm or ranch. The estimator is based you operate on your farm. The calculator
on your specific crops, energy prices and recommends energy-saving alternatives
pumping requirements. It estimates energy and estimates potential savings. Addi-
savings from implementing a selection of tional calculators from Alliant Energy
system improvements. analyze potential savings for electric
http://ipat.sc.egov.usda.gov motors, grain dryers, heat reclaimers,
irrigation systems, lighting equipment,
USDA-NRCS Energy Estimator: milking equipment, scroll compressors
Animal Housing and ventilation systems.
This tool calculates energy use and costs http://alliantenergy.com/docs/groups/
associated with swine, poultry or dairy public/documents/pub/p010003.hcsp
Page 2 ATTRA Farm Energy Calculators: Tools for saving money on the farm

3. Oregon Tilth and Oregon State for water heating, milking systems, milk
University Organic Fertilizer Calculator chilling and lighting specific to dairy farms,
This organic fertilizer calculator will help as well as case studies of cost savings and
you choose soil amendments based on cost payback time.
effectiveness and soil and crop requirements. www.dairysavings.co.nz
The file download includes a Microsoft Excel
calculator and instructions. Note that there DLtech, Inc., Dairy Farm Energy
are several worksheets within the calculator. Calculators
http://smallfarms.oregonstate.edu/ This page includes milk harvesting, milk cool-
organic-fertilizer-calculator ing, lighting, ventilation and equipment calcu-
lators. DLtech is a New York-based company
Wisconsin Public Service Corporation that serves agriculture through engineered
Savings Calculators electro-technology that enables farmers to
These calculators estimate savings from produce a better product, conserve energy
installing energy-efficient equipment for and improve profitability. These calculators
these specific applications: tractor engine complement DLtech’s Dairy Farm Energy
block heaters, vacuum pumps, ventilation Management Guide, which discusses how to
systems and milk pre-coolers. manage energy costs effectively.
www.wisconsinpublicservice.com/farm/ www.dairyfarmenergy.com/Chapter_PDFs/
calculators.aspx Calculators.doc
Montana State University Farm Nitrogen Management on Dairy Farms
Energy Calculator This Web site, a partnership of Cornell Uni-
This energy calculator helps you exam- versity, the University of Vermont and the
ine the costs and energy used in three dif- USDA, is designed to deliver background
ferent tillage systems for a range of crops information and management guidelines for
including winter wheat, spring wheat, bar- efficient nitrogen use throughout the dairy
ley, canola, f lax, lentils and camelina. farm system. It covers crop and soil nitro-
In addition to crop acres, the calculator gen management, feed storage nitrogen
requires some summer fallowed acres be management, herd nitrogen management
included in the crop mix. This calculator and manure storage nitrogen management.
also helps you compare the costs of biodie- www.dairyn.cornell.edu
sel and ethanol to petroleum diesel.
www.montana.edu/extensionecon/software/ Poultryhouse.com Electronic
CropMixTillageEnergyPriceBioD.swf Calculator for Broiler House Minimum
Ventilation Fan Timer Settings
Central Iowa Power Cooperative This PDF calculator is designed to help
Average Farm Energy Calculator you do the best possible job of setting fan
This calculator allows you to input the types timers used in cold weather minimum
of electrical equipment you use on your farm ventilation. Poultryhouse.com, a project
and provides your farm’s typical monthly of Auburn University, provides practical,
electric use. The calculator lists ways to save up-to-date information on the design and
energy specific to your equipment. management of modern poultry environ-
www.cipco.org/energyFarm.asp mental control systems and housing that is
useful to poultry producers, flock supervi-
Genesis Energy Dairy Energy Calculator sors and industry managers.
This tool, from Genesis Energy, an energy www.aces.edu/poultryventilation/
retailer in New Zealand, provides calculators documents/MinVentTimerCalculator.pdf
www.attra.ncat.org ATTRA Page 3

4. General farm calculators California Agricultural Pumping
Efficiency Program Pumping
Alberta Agriculture Food and Rural Cost Analysis
Development Crop Calculators This tool analyzes the potential cost
This calculator offers you a large selection savings for retrofitted electric-powered
of agricultural calculators including a fertil- water pumps.
izer cost estimator and a farm machinery www.pumpefficiency.org/Pumptesting/
calculator, among many others. costanalysis.asp#assumed
www.agric.gov.ab.ca/app19/calc/index.
jsp?type=Crop C-Plan Carbon Footprint Calculator
The C-Plan Carbon Calculator, created by
NRCS Tools by Landuse farmers in central Scotland, allows you to
This is a large list of planning tools and quickly and easily enter the data for the land
spreadsheets including fuel-use estimators, you manage and obtain an estimate of the
various irrigation systems cost tools and fenc- greenhouse gas emissions for your business.
ing cost calculators, among many others. www.cplan.org.uk/calculator.asp
www.economics.nrcs.usda.gov/technical/
tools/index.html#Irrigation Noble Foundation Agricultural Tools
This page contains links to several agricul-
Martindale’s Calculators Online ture-related tools including calculators for
Center: Agriculture estimating fertilizer spread rates and costs,
This Web site, developed by Martindale’s feeding rations and grazing carrying capac-
Reference Desk, includes an extensive col- ities, among many other topics. The Noble
Foundation is an Oklahoma-based nonprofit
lection of online calculators and design
organization conducting agricultural, forage
tools, including many with relevance to
improvement and plant biology research.
farm energy usage.
www.noble.org/Tools/index.html
www.martindalecenter.com/Calculators1_
2_A.html
Renewable energy
Iowa State University I-FARM calculators
I-FARM is a database-driven farming sys-
tems simulation model that predicts eco- National Renewable Energy Labora-
nomic returns and ecosystem impacts of tory Wind Energy Finance Calculator
farm operations, integrating both crop and This online tool allows you to enter wind
livestock components. and power data to calculate a wind project’s
capacity factor. The calculator provides
http://i-farmtools.org a quick, detailed economic evaluation of
potential utility-scale wind energy projects.
Agriculture Cost Estimator
http://analysis.nrel.gov/windfinance/
The Agriculture Cost Estimator, hosted by
login.asp
AgWeb.com, a division of Farm Journal
Media, Inc., allows you to quickly compare
Windustry Wind Project Calculator
the cost of using propane gas to the cost of This spreadsheet assists you in evaluating
using other energy sources for grain drying the economics of installing a wind turbine to
and irrigation pumping in your operation. provide electricity for your farm and home.
www.agweb.com/Propane_Calc.aspx The program estimates the cash flows for
Page 4 ATTRA Farm Energy Calculators: Tools for saving money on the farm

5. investing in a wind turbine and the rate of The Solar Estimator
return on cash investments. This is a Micro- This resource, offered by the U.S. Depart-
soft Excel spreadsheet that uses macros. ment of Energy, the American Solar Energy
www.windustry.com/calculator/default.htm Society and the Solar Electric Power Asso-
ciation, provides an idea of price, savings
RETScreen International Wind Energy and system size specific to your geographic
Project Model location.
The RETScreen Clean Energy Project
www.findsolar.com/index.
Analysis Software is a unique decision sup-
php?page=rightforme
port tool developed with the contribution of
numerous experts from government, indus-
try and academia. The software, provided Texas State Energy Conservation Office
free of charge, can be used worldwide to Energy Calculators and Software
evaluate the energy production and savings, This site includes a photovoltaic system
costs, emission reductions, financial viabil- economics calculator, a solar water heating
ity and risk for various types of renewable- calculator and two greenhouse gas pollution
energy and energy-efficient technologies, calculators.
or RETs. The RETScreen Wind Energy www.infinitepower.org/calculators.htm
Project Model can be used worldwide to
easily evaluate the energy production, life-
cycle costs and greenhouse gas emissions Biofuels and biomass
reduction for central-grid, isolated-grid and calculators
off-grid wind energy projects ranging in size
from large-scale, multi-turbine wind farms Biodiesel Cash Flow/Income
to small-scale, single-turbine wind and Statement Worksheet
diesel hybrid systems. This worksheet, developed by the Montana
www.retscreen.net/ang/g_win.php State University Agricultural Marketing Pol-
icy Center, allows you to compare small-scale
Bergey Windpower Small Wind oilseed processing and biodiesel production
Project Calculator options based on their specific situation.
This cash flow spreadsheet model, from www.ampc.montana.edu/
Bergey Windpower, a supplier of small energyinformation.html
wind turbines, can be used for both resi-
dential and commercial applications. It is
West Midlands Biodiesel Economic
a useful tool for determining payback and
rate of return. Evaluation Calculator
This calculator helps you assess the potential
www.bergey.com/Technical.htm economic viability of producing biodiesel
and oilseed rape oil in farm operations.
National Renewable Energy
Bioenergy West Midlands aims to promote
Laboratory PV Watts
Researchers at the National Renewable activity in, and markets for, bioenergy in
Energy Laboratory developed PVWATTS the West Midlands area of the United King-
to help non-experts quickly obtain perfor- dom. BioenergyWM encompasses three
mance estimates for grid-connected photo- main market areas, namely biomass, biogas
voltaic systems. and biofuel (bioethanol and biodiesel).
http://rredc.nrel.gov/solar/calculators/ www.bioenergywm.org/documents/
PVWATTS/version2/#directions Biofuels%20Calculator.xls
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6. EERE Theoretical Ethanol Yield EERE Energy Cost Calculators
Calculator These calculators, developed by the U.S.
This tool, from the U.S. Department of Department of Energy’s Federal Energy
Energy’s Federal Energy Management Pro- Management Program, allows you to
gram, approximates the theoretical ethanol enter your own input values, such as util-
yield in gallons per dry ton of feedstock ity rates and hours of use, to estimate the
based on the dry mass percentage of the energy cost savings from buying a more
material that is sugar components. efficient product.
www1.eere.energy.gov/biomass/ethanol_ www1.eere.energy.gov/femp/procurement/
yield_calculator.html eep_eccalculators.html
California Biomass Collaborative Cost
of Energy Calculator USDA Fuel Value Calculator
The Cost of Energy Calculator computes the The Fuel Value Calculator is a tool in PDF
annual cost of energy in both current and format that can be used to compare typical
constant dollars for a generic biomass power unit costs of various fuels including wood,
plant using a revenue-requirements meth- natural gas, electricity, switchgrass and pro-
odology. The calculator includes spread- pane, among others.
sheet models for combined heat and power
www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/techline/fuel_
operations, biomass gasification operations
value_calculator.pdf
and biogas operations.
http://faculty.engineering.ucdavis.edu/
jenkins/CBC/Calculator/index.html Penn State University Energy Cost
Calculator
The Energy Cost Calculator is an Excel
Energy efficiency calculators spreadsheet with two worksheets. By
Alliant Energy Energy Efficiency entering the unit price for various fuels,
Calculators you can determine the cost per million
This Web page provides a list of energy effi- British thermal units. It also provides
ciency calculators for residential, small busi- the energy content and heat conversion
ness, commercial and industrial equipment efficiency information for varying fuels.
that includes air conditioning and lighting. http://energy.cas.psu.edu/
www.alliantenergy.com/docs/groups/public/ costcomparator.html
documents/pub/p013446.hcsp
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7. Notes
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8. Farm Energy Calculators:
Tools for saving money on the farm
By Holly Hill
NCAT Research Specialist
© 2008 NCAT
Holly Michels, Editor
Amy Smith, Production
This publication is available on the Web at:
www.attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/farmenergycalc.html
or
www.attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/PDF/farmenergycalc.pdf
IP326
Slot 320
Version 072808
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