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Is your farm energy-efficient? How can you tell? If you add up all of your electricity use for a year that is used for milk harvesting or cow housing and divide by the number of milking cows, you will likely be in the range of 800 to 1,200 kilowatt-hours per cow per year.
This article was #20 of the Top 25 most well-read articles on www.progressivedairy.com in 2014. It was published in the Nov. 1, 2013 Extra e-newsletter and April 1, 2014 print issue.
LED lights have been used for decades, but more recently, new designs are making them suitable to light the way in place of incandescent, fluorescent and high-intensity-discharge lamps. The greatest advantages of LED lighting are the extended life span that reaches far beyond that of incandescent bulbs and better energy efficiency.
Energy use for milk harvesting and animal housing on dairy farms is typically less than 2 percent of overall production costs.
Energy savings can be economically important with little management time. It is important to know where and how energy is being used as we look for energy savings.
