A typical energy audit includes a phone interview and a two-hour farm visit. The farm provides one year's worth of energy-use information prior to the audit, and receives a detailed audit report and recommendations in six to eight weeks. In the report, energy efficiency upgrade opportunities and processes are outlined for farmers, as well as information about resource conservation and renewable energy.

While some energy efficiency upgrades require large upfront capital investment and a few years to complete, many recommendations can be as simple as changing a light bulb. Below are some examples of shortterm farm upgrades with almost immediate impacts

S&S Farm, Modesto, Calif.
S&S Farm, which produces 70,000 to 80,000 pounds of milk per day, decreased the energy consumption of its vacuum system by replacing an oversized pump and installing a variable frequency drive on the new pump that provides vacuum to the milk collection equipment. The project resulted in annual energy savings of $3,700 and 55,000 kWh, which represents 72 percent of the electricity used by that pump. With a total cost of $8,200, and a rebate from the dairy's utility of $1,455, the simple payback was just 1.6 years. The project also decreased the pump's longterm maintenance costs.

Palmyra Farm, Hagerstown, Md.
Owner Ralph Shank has 140 cows producing 2.7 million pounds of fluid milk annually. After completing an energy audit in 2007, Ralph replaced multiple small old ventilation fans with six 52-inch or 60-inch highefficiency fans on timers. The new fans provided the same cooling effectiveness while reducing the farm's daily energy use and lowering noise levels. Adequate ventilation reduces heat and moisture build-up and is vital for the health of animals and people. Efficient ventilation helps ensure proper temperature maintenance in barns, which is shown to enable optimum milk production.

Rickreall Dairy, Rickreall, Ore.
With a 1,500-cow operation, owner Louie Kazemier was committed to making smart changes for sustainability without making large upfront investments. Louie found that relatively simple changes to operation wide systems like lighting can yield significant energy savings. At Rickreall Dairy, upgrading lighting from old 400-Watt metal halide fixtures with a combination of T-5, T-8 and T-12 fluorescent lamps saved approximately 214,840 kWh in one year, translating to a savings of $1,100 per month in utility costs.