Duration: 10/01/2025 to 09/30/2030

Administrative Advisor(s):

NIFA Reps:

Non-Technical Summary

Farm energy production and use is a critical component for the success of agriculture in the United States and worldwide, as energy utilization “powers” the modern agriculture enterprise and on-farm energy production is a critical component of plans to shift the nation’s energy basis to a more renewable, sustainable basis.  This regional project group will work together to carry out research, education, and extension activities on farm energy topics.  The work will be targeted to benefit farmers who will be able to make informed decisions about energy production, energy use and efficiency, and have access to new opportunities for farm energy production and utilization.  The group’s development of a shared farm energy teaching curriculum will help prepare ag professionals to understand and utilize energy in an effective manner, while the research and extension activities will connect farmers to the latest understanding with respect to energy on the farm. 

Statement of Issues and Justification

Farm energy production and use is a key component of the region’s sustainable agricultural future. While the advent of cheap fossil fuel in the 20th century undergirded phenomenal growth in agricultural productivity and labor efficiency, the new millennium has featured twin drivers of rising and highly variable cost of energy coupled with increased demand for sustainable and local resources. The agricultural community faces increased risk and decreasing profits from the first factor, and faces a potential new market opportunity from the second. These issues can be addressed by means of improving the sustainable production and use of energy on the farm.

Sustainable energy use entails the adoption of advanced energy management strategies to reduce energy waste and improve effectiveness of use. This includes taking advantage of new market opportunities in the semi-deregulated energy markets of the region. Not all strategies are effective in all settings, as climate, productivity, use patterns, regulatory constraints and available resources all vary from farm to farm.

Farm-based energy production and use is a subject of research, extension, and educational need in the Northeast Region and throughout the nation. On the production side, limited adoption of solar, wind, biogas, and biomass energy has indicated that potential exists to improve the energy productivity of farms, but the lack of continued growth, due to knowledge gaps in the science and engineering of energy production, combined with limited understanding in the farm community and limited access to financing for proven technologies, are roadblocks that must be surmounted.

Energy use is a significant knowledge gap area in the agricultural sector. While some limited research has been conducted in the past on energy use patterns, very little is really understood about farm energy use patterns, or the factors that influence those patterns. The recent and ongoing development of the energy marketplace, including deployment of smart grid technologies, deregulated energy markets, an emphasis on distributed generation, and the growth of the renewable energy credit marketplace have contributed to a changing context for energy production and use. How these changes are affecting the farming community is still not apparent.

The Farm Energy Multistate Coordinating Committee will work together to address critical issues and opportunities related to the production and use of energy on the farm. These issues include:
- lack of understanding of current farm energy use patterns 
- the need to evaluate the impacts and opportunities for farms arising from the changing energy production sector 
- the need for improved technologies, systems, and approaches for optimizing energy use on the farm 
- the need to enable the expansion of on-farm production of renewable and sustainable energy 
- the need for farmers and farm professionals who are well educated and capable of understanding and improving farm energy performance

The coordinating committee will work collaboratively to carry out research, extension, and education in this important area. More specifically, the project will include:

Research: Investigation into farm energy utilization benchmarks, renewable energy system performance, renewable energy economics, and new opportunities for effective utilization and production of energy in the agricultural sector. Surprisingly, farm energy use benchmarks are not well established for the major farm types. Key research questions to be addressed include

• How does energy use vary across the major farm sectors in the region?
• What factors influence the intensity of farm energy use?
• What new technologies can be developed to produce energy on the farm?
• What new technologies can be developed to dramatically reduce energy use on the farm?
• How does the performance of renewable energy systems vary seasonally and annually when operated in an agricultural environment?
• What systems and approaches for energy production are readily scalable to farm production?
• What are the impacts of farm-based energy production and use on the stability and reliability of the regional energy distribution network?
• What are some cost effective ways to improve the electrical grid in rural areas to facilitate the export of electricity from farms?
• How do economic factors impact the adoption, expansion, and financial sustainability of renewable farm-based energy production?

Extension: Extension efforts are needed, in the form of state and regional programs and sharing of extension resources across states. This will lead to stronger, better resourced programs and a better educated, more capable farm community. Extension efforts that are needed in this area include:

• Written, Online, or Video outreach materials – made widely available and shared among educators
• Joint Extension Activities – leveraging regional skills and experience for greater overall impact
• Demonstrations Projects – showcasing innovative early adopters of sustainable energy systems and approaches
• Case Studies – demonstrating the feasibility and key challenges facing sustainable energy on the farm
• Assessment Tools – making it easier for farmers to self-assess and educators to provide guidance to the process of identifying energy opportunities

Education: Educational needs in this area will be addressed through sharing and joint development of educational content for primary, secondary, and tertiary audiences. The foci of the education efforts will be on enhancing the capabilities of ag professionals, growing the energy savvy of ag producers, and demonstration of energy strategies at the farm scale. Education efforts in this area are to include:

• Creation and sharing of educational materials for lectures and student discussion
• Creation and sharing of educational materials for labs and practical training
• Creation and sharing of assessment materials and approaches
• Needs assessment for education in this topic area

The breadth and depth of these efforts will be dependent in large part on the degree of project funding generated by the group (proposal preparation will be a priority).

How the proposed activity addresses national and/or regional priorities:

Work in this area is important for the future of farms in America. Energy conservation is a key need that contributes to improved profitability, reduced risk, and improved ecological and environmental attributes of farms. The changing landscape of energy markets, including deregulation, development of smart grid technologies, growing concerns about energy sustainability, emissions, and the recent growth of unconventional energy production, has shifted the energy landscape considerably and created new constraints and opportunities that need to be understood and addressed. Energy production is a significant opportunity within this context, providing sustainable energy inputs to farming operations and the communities in which they are located. Research work in this topic area will inform extension and education efforts, education work in this area will prepare the next generation of ag professionals and practitioners, and extension work will empower the ag community to make wise and fully informed choices with respect to energy production and use on the farm. 

Failure to develop effective research, extension, and education programs on this topic will reduce the agricultural sector’s robustness and resilience, and as a result of higher energy expenditures, reduced farm sustainability, and lost economic opportunities.

The stakeholders to be reached as a result of this project will primarily include farmers, but will also include farm consultants, farm equipment providers, and end users of farm products.

Objectives

Procedures and Activities

The regional coordinating committee in Sustainable Farm Energy and Use will meet in person on an annual basis, and will meet telephonically on a quarterly basis each year.  The quarterly meetings will consist of 50% informal seminar presentation and 50% project business updates. During the first year, the group will establish specific tasks for achieving its stated objectives, and work together to accomplish those objectives. One team member will be assigned “task coordinator” duties for each of the four project objectives, and will establish a detailed timeline and milestones for achieving that objective.   

Expected Outcomes and Impacts

Projected Participation

View Appendix E: Participation

Educational Plan

Ease of Access to Services/Information:

Services and information for the general public will primarily be delivered through the Cooperative Extension services of the participating universities. These organizations are committed to equal access and availability of services and information, thus assuring full access of project outputs. Research outputs will be made available through research reports, papers, presentations, and demonstration projects. Project outputs and resources will, as much as is possible, be posted online in an appropriate format that is accessible and usable.

Focus on Under-Served Communities/Consumers:

This project is focused on the agricultural sector, and by that very nature is relevant to and valuable for rural communities in the region that typically are economically disadvantaged and lag the urban areas in economic opportunities and income.  The team will assess the availability and suitability of extension products for emerging and underserved sectors of the ag economy. 

Plans for disseminating information:

Information will be disseminated via workshops, presentations, research papers, and online and print material generated by the members of the regional team.

Opportunities to interact with and/or deliver value to peer groups, stakeholders, clientele, other regional activities:

Whenever possible, meetings and workshops will be held in conjunction with other events held in the region, thus maximizing the opportunity for interacting with and adding value to peer groups, stakeholders, and clientele. Private consultants, practitioners and industry personnel will be welcomed to take part in the regional project group as non-voting “associates”.

Organization/Governance

The group will be led by a chair and vice-chair, selected by vote of those present at the annual meeting. The term of office for vice-chair and chair is two years, such that the first year will be as vice chair, and the second year as chair. 

Committee Chair: Schedule and convene group meetings, establish agenda, and facilitate the distribution of tasks related to the group's research, education, and extension objectives. Prepare group progress reports as required.

Committee Vice Chair: Host the annual meeting and quarterly online calls, assist the committee chair with his/her tasks, record and distribute minutes of the annual meetings.

A committee secretary can be appointed by the chair, if so desired, to assist with group paperwork, communication, etc. 

Activities of the group will be carried out on a collaborative, consensus-driven basis as much as possible, with votes of members (one vote per land grant institution) used on any matters where consensus has not been reached. Meetings will be conducted using procedures adapted from “Roberts’ Rules of Order”.

Literature Cited

Brown, E., and R. N. Elliott. 2005a. On-Farm Energy Use Characterizations. American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy. Report #IE052.

Brown, E., and R.N. Elliott. 2005b. Potential Energy Efficiency Savings in the Agriculture Sector. American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy. Report #IE052.

Carroll, E., M. Brown, F. Xavier, and C. Kumar. 2010. Small and Medium Sized Business Customers: Proactive Services to Increase the Installation Rate of Efficiency Upgrades,” in Proceedings, 2010 ACEEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings, 15-20 August 2010, Pacific Grove, CA, pp. 4-19–4-31.

Ciolkosz, ed. (2022). Regional Perspectives on Farm Energy. Cham: Springer International Publishing.

Craumer, P.R., 1979. Farm Productivity and Energy Efficiency in Amish and Modern Dairying. Agriculture and Environment, 4(1978-79)281-299.

Ludington, D., and E. Johnson. 2003. Dairy Farm Energy Audit Summary. NYSERDA Project Report. New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. Albany, NY.

Morris, M, Dana, R., Hill, H., and A. Kurki. 1999. Farm Energy Audits: Availability, Usefulness, and Cost. USDA Risk Management Agency Report #06IE08310060-P.

Perlack, R.D., and Stokes, B.J. (leads). 2011. U.S. Billion-Ton Update: Biomass Supply for a Bioenergy and Bioproducts Industry. ORNL/TM-2011/224. Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN. 227p.

Pimentel, D., Berardi, G., and S. Fast. 1983. Energy Efficiency of Farming Systems: Organic and Conventional Agriculture. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 9(1983)359-372.

Shaw, S. 2008. Progress Report on Small Wind Energy Development Projects Receiving Funds from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC). Cadmus Group Inc.

Slocombe, J.W., Feyerherm, A.M., and L.E. Stetson. 1992. Electrical Energy Usage on Kansas Grain Farms. Transactions of the ASABE. 8(2):263-266.

USDA, 2007, USDA Census of Agriculture.

USDA, 2009. On-Farm Renewable Energy Production Survey: Farms Reporting Photovoltaic (PV) and Thermal Solar Panels by Type, Capacity, Installation. USDA Census of Agriculture.

Attachments

Land Grant Participating States/Institutions

Non Land Grant Participating States/Institutions