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Know How / Farm energy

Get advice on diversifying into the farm energy sector or using farm-generated renewable energy to cut energy costs. Find out how to maximise anaerobic digestion (AD) plant performance, lease land for battery and generator sites, and grow crops for the biofuels market.

Practical advice

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BUSINESS CLINIC

Business Clinic: Should we sell solar income for lump sum?

Whether it’s a legal, tax, finance or management question, Farmers Weekly’s expert panel can help. Here, Carter Jonas associate Will Hunt of the firm’s mergers and acquisitions department, gives advice…

FARM ENERGY

How reviewing electricity contracts can bring savings

Following the introduction of big increases in electricity standing charges in April, energy contracts should be checked before renewal and any new offers need special scrutiny, warn advisers. With a…

FARM ENERGY

Small-scale wind: How proposals could encourage farm projects

New onshore wind development in England virtually ground to a halt after the Conservative government imposed strict planning restrictions in 2015, focusing instead on other renewable technologies, such as solar,…

FARM ENERGY

10 ways to mitigate April's rising electricity charges

Wholesale electricity costs typically make up just one-third of the average electricity bill, with other “non-commodity costs” – in other words, standing charges – comprising more than 60%. These charges…

FARM ENERGY

Advice on legal and tax angles for renewables projects

Solar developers continue to look for sites and interested landowners can do much to put themselves in the best position to proceed. Interest in potential wind turbine sites is also…

BUSINESS CLINIC

Business Clinic: Can I put a turbine on green belt land?

Whether it’s a legal, tax, insurance, management or land issue, Farmers Weekly’s Business Clinic experts can help. Here, Philippe Rottner, senior energy specialist with Carter Jonas, advises on the potential…

Case studies

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DAIRY

How milk source heat pumps have slashed dairy’s energy bills

Installing three milk source heat pumps is saving a Somerset cheesemaker more than £70,000 a year on electricity bills. Investment by Barber’s, Maryland Farm, Ditcheat, in this new technology is…

POULTRY

How free-range layers complement electricity generation

Six thousand hens range under the solar array on 16ha (40 acres) of former arable land let to egg producers Charlie and Laura Tomkins. The birds share the site with…

LIVESTOCK

How a slurry digester is helping cut energy costs by 85%

A Gloucestershire dairy farm has slashed monthly energy bills by using a farm-scale anaerobic digester, alongside solar panels, to produce electricity. The technology employed at Court Farm, Kempley, also produces…

DAIRY

Robot dairy saves £30k with custom microgrid system

A robotic dairy farm, currently producing 97% of its power needs through solar panels, is entering the third stage of energy profiling to optimise its own self-contained energy system or…

DAIRY

How dairy’s solar fence captures energy at peak demand

At Kilmeaden Farm in County Waterford, cows graze either side of a 150m fence that runs north to south the length of one of David Foran’s fields. This is no…

MACHINERY

NI farm transforms slurry and food waste into bio-LNG fuel

A multi-million pound diversification project has allowed an enterprising dairy farm to convert slurry and food waste into biofuel, as it looks to tap into the growing market for renewable…

Insights

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FARM ENERGY

How to assess whether rooftop solar is right for your farm

With equipment costs at historic lows and a favourable government policy towards renewables, now could be a good opportunity to invest in rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) panels. However, this is…

FARM ENERGY

Small-scale AD held back by lack of policy support

Small-scale biogas potentially offers many benefits for farmers well beyond energy generation, yet there are concerns that lack of government support or clear policy direction is continuing to hold back…