The USDA Rural Development Office in Kentucky and the Kentucky Agricultural Development Board made cost-share funds available in 2020 for energy efficiency projects on farms and small rural businesses. Both programs required an energy assessment as part of the cost-share application. Cooperative Extension Service engineers from the UK Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Department were asked to provide technical assistance in the form of energy assessments for potential program applicants. This team provided energy assessments and technical reports to replace three grain dryers on Kentucky farms that applied for cost-share funds from one or both available programs.
 
IMPACT – Producers used the energy assessments to apply for and receive cost-share funds to replace old grain dryers with more energy efficient units on their farms. The total project costs for these farms amounted to $665,862 and the total amount in grants received was $170,178 ($56,726 per farm). Additionally, the total annual value of energy savings with current prices for drying fuel (LP and natural gas) was $29,910 ($9970 per farm per year). The estimated average simple payback period for all projects was 16.6 years after applying cost-share assistance that was received by the growers.

This project has been a collaborative effort with USDA Rural Development (KY Office), KY Governor’s Office of Agricultural Policy, and private grant writers.