Analyse energy use to cut dairy costs

How do you get a grip on where energy is being used in your dairy business? DairyCo can give you a guide.

Despite all the action in the parlour, 33% of electricity use on a typical dairy farm is for heating water for washing, 33% for cooling milk and the rest for running the parlour, lights and other equipment.

This simple three-way split should allow producers to focus attention on where to cut energy use and, therefore, costs, says DairyCo's energy guru Kate Cross. "It's relatively simple. Get your electricity bills for the past 12 months, add up the units used and divide by the number of cows in the herd," she says.

Typically, energy use should be between 300-500kwh a cow. "That's a wide band, but don't forget there's a huge diversity in parlours being operated and equipment used," she adds.

Most dairy farms will be tied in to a contract with an energy supplier. But it is worth checking what you're paying and whether the contract is still current. "Farm businesses can get a nasty shock when the contract runs out and the energy supplier puts the business on to a standard tariff.

"Costs can soon mount and you could be accumulating considerable costs unknowingly," she warns. It is worth comparing tariffs - a lot easier if you have access to the internet to check prices on-line. Energy suppliers are in a competitive market, so renegotiation of contracts is not out of the question.

"Also, most contracts will have a 'white meter' or period within any day when the user pays a lower rate for energy just like the old Economy 7 tariff for domestic properties.

"Check if you have it and when the time is set. Aim to get much of the high-energy use, such as heating hot water for parlour washing, done in this time you can save hundreds a year."