Landcorp shows energy efficient dairying pays, with 9% savings

New Zealand's largest dairy operation Landcorp Farming is saving $50,000 a year on energy costs after cuttings its farms' energy use by 9%.

During 2009, Landcorp worked with the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) to carry out energy audits and put the recommendations into practice on 21 of its 27 dairy farms.

The project involved temporary smart meters on each farm to record energy use, followed by detailed recommendations. Landcorp opted for actions with a payback of five years or less, focusing on:

• heat recovery from refrigeration systems to generate hot water for use in the milking shed
• ‘variable speed drives' - devices on vacuum pumps and farm supply pumps to ensure they don't work harder than needed
• insulation on hot water pipes and cylinders.

The project was nationwide, covering farms in Keri Keri, Kaitaia, Waikato, Horowhenua, Wairarapa, the West Coast and Otago. Now that the project is complete, energy savings achieved across all farms average 9% - an annual saving of around $50,000. These are locked in for future years.

EECA chief executive Mike Underhill said: "Energy is a major overhead for dairy farmers. Margins are tight and farmers are always looking to streamline operations. This demonstrates that energy use can be reduced - bringing real benefits to the bottom line. These savings can be re-invested in the farm to boost production. These savings aren't a one-off but are achieved every year - so will total very substantial savings. Landcorp was already running an efficient operation, so to find savings of this size indicates the potential for other dairy farmers is likely to be even bigger."

Landcorp project manager Vaughan Griffiths said: "This project was driven by cost, pure and simple. Like all dairy farmers we were feeling the squeeze and wanted to minimise our operating costs. For farmers there's never an ideal time to make a capital outlay - but energy management can pay for itself in a surprisingly short time frame."

Landcorp is already applying the lessons learned to its new multi-million dollar Weka dairy development on the West Coast.

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