Farming and Sustainability
Genesis Now has worked with over 100 farmers, to develop methods of improving production, while reducing environmental impacts, such as greenhouse gas emissions, water use, consumption of materials, and stream pollution.
Genesis Now has been busy in the last 3-4 yrs working closely with farmers looking at ways to improve their sustainability. Activities include detailed interviews, data recording, system designs, trials, business case development, reporting, monitoring and implementation. Along the way many tools have been developed to assist the farmer in making informative decisions. This website has been developed to help the user see some of the options available and some of the methodologies adopted along the way.
Contents
– Training and awareness
– Future projects
- Wineries – 5 kW PV
- Dairy Shed – Heat recovery
- Dairy Shed – Solar hot water
- Dairy – Digestors
- Dairy – Milk de-watering
- Agricultural biomass gasification
- Wind farms – 5 kW
– Ideas register
- Enteric
- Soils
- Water
- Waste
Farm Sustainability Assessments
Genesis Now are trained auditors in identifying sustainability improvements for your agricultural enterprise. We have many options that are available to the farmer on how best identify the improvement activities suitable for their needs.
Interaction with business employees, suppliers, maintenance personnel and owners is strongly recommended to ensure solutions are practical and cost effective.
In most cases the solutions are inexpensive. Practice changes can save lots of wasted resources at minimal costs.
Where capital is required easy repayment plans from utility cost savings can be set-up.
We find many farmers are surprised at the number of options available to them for reducing costs, improving productivity and most of all increasing profits.
Genesis Now can work closely with the farmer on structuring the most cost effective way to understand these potential benefits to the business.
Assessment cost estimates:
- Option 1: Pre prepared Farm Sustainability Report that provides examples of over 80 farms and the ideas they have identified
Range: $750 – $1500 - Option 2: Individual Farm Sustainability Assessment
Range: $2500 – $7500 - Option 3: Group Farm Sustainability Assessment
Range: $500 – $1500
Contact us for more details regarding the options above.
Farms go solar – 5 kW PV
After completing several Sustainability Assessments on farms, Genesis Now has identified a generic 5 kW PV system is a highly recommended option.
Genesis Now are inviting farmers to express their interest in participating in a Co-Operative designed to deliver 5 kW PV systems to farms within the region. The expression of interest is simply permission to participate in further assessments to establish a business case for the installation of a system.
Genesis Now will collect the interest of farmers and develop a ‘complete’ system design for the consideration of members of the Co-Operative. With the availability of Government funding and access to energy saving payback programs, members of the Co-Op will enjoy a low risk entry into generating renewable energy within their enterprise.
While farmers are beginning to see many more suppliers of PV systems entering the market, Genesis Now has identified that there is a lot more to a successful installation than the supply of the PV panels. Genesis Now ensures all aspects of the system are designed properly to align with the unique operations of each farm.
Some of the influencing factors for a successful installation includes:
- PV panel capacity
- Grid connect configuration
- PV panel location/orientation
- Net feed-in tariff optimisation
- Utility retailer contract agreements
- System maintenance and monitoring
- Capital repayment options
- Renewable Energy Certificate options
- Energy aswell as greenhouse gas savings
Genesis Now have experienced that no individual supplier of a system on the market today can deliver to the farmer the best ‘deal’ for the farmer. There always seems to be limitation with one or many of the factors listed above.
Genesis Now offers the farmer access to the ‘best’ system for their needs by bringing together the benefits of existing products on the market while avoiding the current limitations resulting in a more cost effective solution.
A group of farmers working together to deliver the best system for their needs is the best approach and Genesis Now encourages farmers to express their interest in participating in a Co-Op in their region.
Contact us to submit an expression of interest or for more details.
Improvement ideas – Energy
Listed below are the opportunities identified to reduce energy consumption around the farm. Details of each of these options will be able to be viewed via an attached pdf document outlining all key elements, if one is attached, simply click on the link to view.
These are constantly being updated and uploaded to the web, so if an opportunity does appeal to you and the pdf is not yet available please contact us for more details.
- Wind Turbine – 10, 20 kW
- Install methane digestor system
- Install gasification system
- Mix vegetable oil with diesel fuel
- Switch to Green Energy based on Huitson shed, 5¢/kWh
- Install PV (per 1 kW system)
- Solar pumps
- Wind pumps
- Water driven water pump
- Replace hot water cleaning with alternative based on 33% substitution
- Turn storage heating off when not required based on every 3rd day
- Solar hot water
- Install stand-alone heat pump for hot water
- Direct pre cooler warm water to water heater
- Install instantaneous hot water boosting
- Insulate hot water pipes
- Maintain thermostats and adjust set-point
- Check and repair hot water leaks
- Install de-superheater
- Install Mahana Blue heat recovery unit (Vacuum Pump)
- Turn off hot water when cows are dry
- Replace mercury vapour lights with T5 fluorescents
- Install lighting controls
- Install sky lights
- Reduce water pumping
- Introduce gravity-fed water reticulation
- Optimise pre-cooler system
- Install cooling tower for pre-cooler water
- Install pre-cooling
- Install ice bank
- Install variable speed milk pump
- Optimise vat performance
- Install Polar/Thermo wrap onto VAT
- Install night sky cooling for pre cooler water
- Install variable speed vacuum pump
- Install heat pump for pre-cooler water
- Install energy monitoring system
- Undertake energy reduction training
- Absorption chilling using waste heat from refrigerator
- Milk de-watering
- Practice methods that reduce diesel consumption
- Apply trace elements to feed and water
- Install oil feeder to feed system
- Reduction of weeds in pasture that contribute to poor digestion
- Introduction of water troughs and fencing off dams
- Implement stock management plan
- Design farm to minimise steep slopes
- Consider genetic variability to reduce methane production
- Optimise pasture & fodder digestibility
- Install live animal weighing
- Feed additives
- Feed pads
- Adopt feed pad management practices
- Upgrade effluent system
- Sump system query
- Monitor existing system performance & nutrient levels
- Integrate nutrient management into effluent management
- Implement effluent management plan
- Upgrade pump to irrigate larger area of farm
- Optimise management of effluent system
- Organic fertilisers
- Use best practice recommendations for nitrogen management
- Nitrification inhibitors
- Introduce nitrogen fixers such as clovers & legumes
- Implement a nutrient budget
- Green Urea
- Undertake nitrogen best management practice course
- Undertake soil management course
- Dung Beetles
- Set up cell & rotational grazing
- Fence / manage soils according to capacity
- Implement nutrient management plan
- Adopt practices that build and protect soil biology
- No kill tillage
- Measure soil carbon
- Pasture cropping
- Optimise supplementary feeding to reduce nitrous emissions
- Introduce supplementary feeding
- Use feed budgetting to ensure protein:energy is optimal
- Farm forestry plot
- Revegetation planting
- Shelter belts
- Revegetation of 1 hectare of land with tubestock
- Revegetation of 1 hectare of land using direct seeding
- Deepen dams
- Provide shade and shelter around dams
- Install dam covers
- Aquatain
- Fence dams to exclude stock
- Reticulate water to troughs
- Install header tanks
- Install magnetic conditioners
- Implement irrigation scheduling
- Install soil moisture sensors
- Repair pipe leaks
- Install recycled water to dairy shed wash down
- Collect pre-cooler water
- Manually clean floors before washing
- Milk de-watering
- Connect spray trigger nozzles
- Increase vegetation
- Increase soil carbon
- Install water collection tank
- Install water floats in troughs
- Replace leaking water troughs
- Divert stormwater into dams
- Undertake water audit
- Install pump meters to monitor usage
- Implement DrumMUSTER
- Install silage pits
- Recycle silage wrap
- Use degradable silage wrap
- Reduce quantity of silage wrap
- Reduce & recycle baler twine
- Biodegradable baler twine
- Reduce livestock exercise
- Reduce heat stress
- Reduce cold stress
- Partial suckling
- Play calf sounds in dairy shed
- Reduce feed conversion to methane
- Water availability and quality
- Happy cattle – Reduce fear, rough handling, etc.
- Soothing music in dairy shed
- Provide shelter for livestock
If you have any feedback for us regarding any information provided here it would be greatly appreciated. Please contact us.