Which fuel is best for heating a greenhouse? The right answer depends on price, convenience, and availability. Some fuels have more “heat per dollar” and some heating units have a greater efficiency. Others are especially easy to use. All of these factors need to be considered when deciding what fuel to use. The most common fuels for greenhouse heating are natural gas, propane, and fuel oil, …
Farm Shop Energy is part of a series of Efficiency Checklists and Topics that can help you to assess all areas of your farming operation for energy efficiency and find ideas to save energy and reduce costs. For links to other articles in the Efficiency Checklists and Topics series, see Additional Resources at the end of this article.
The farm shop is often the second most used building during the winter next to …
Tractors and related field equipment can use a lot of energy on the farm, so it makes sense to take practical steps to optimize their efficiency. These include:
Case studies of greenhouse growers and other farmers using alternative energy for heating in greenhouses and running equipment have been posted by UVM Extension at: On-Farm Energy Case Studies.
The case studies describe systems that use biodiesel, coal, log wood, shell corn, waste vegetable oil, waste wood chips,and wood pellets to heat greenhouses.
In addition, there are links to case studies of on-farm biodiesel production.
Agricultural producers use a variety of refrigeration systems to extend the shelf life of perishable materials. Cooling not only reduces the potential for spoiling due to bacterial growth but also reduces humidity levels for some products. Refrigeration may also be used during sorting, processing, packaging, and storage.
Fruit and vegetable farmers must cool many of their products quickly after harvest; removal of field heat is important to maintaining produce quality and shelf life.
Tractor ballasting influences the efficiency and energy use of tractor operation. Ballasting determines the amount of slip in any given field condition, affecting fuel consumption, field operation time, and tire wear. Total tractor weight also has serious effects on compaction, transmission life, tire life, and tractor safety and stability.
In addition to the overall weight of the tractor, the way that the weight is distributed between the axles has a huge impact on tractor performance. Over-ballasting a tractor wastes fuel …
Tire slip occurs when the tires are turning faster than the ground speed of the tractor. As a result, less than 60% to 70% of the power that a tractor engine develops is used to pull an implement through the soil. It could even drop to 50% on soft and sandy soils.
Some of the power developed by a tractor engine …
Tillage operations are generally conducted to prepare a seedbed, incorporate fertilizers, and cultivate for weed control. The number of trips required to perform these operations depends on soil type and condition, the crop, weather conditions, and the type of tillage system utilized. Excessive tillage operations increase fuel consumption, operating costs, machinery wear, and time and labor requirements. Too much tillage also increases soil compaction and releases carbon into the atmosphere.
Farmers can reduce …
With volatile energy costs, a good return on investment may be obtained by adding insulation to homes, offices, farm shops and other heated buildings such as greenhouse headhouses or boiler rooms. Insulation can provide benefits in winter by keeping expensive heat in and in summer by keeping unwanted heat out.
Although all building materials have some insulation value, the term “insulation” usually refers to materials with a relatively high resistance to heat flow that are designed specifically for that purpose. …
