"Energy and Agriculture: Lost and Found Opportunities" (Special to The Maine Farmer)

"Energy and Agriculture: Lost and Found Opportunities" (Special to The Maine Farmer)

August 19, 2005

by U.S. Representative Tom Allen

Energy constitutes a substantial part of the cost of doing business in America. Farmers are no exception. The price of electricity alone can determine whether dairy producers can keep going. Like other consumers, farmers are watching in dismay as gasoline and diesel to fuel their farm machinery soar in price.

Jan Goranson of Goranson Farm in Dresden grows organic produce and sells it at the farm's stand and at a series of farmers' markets. "It [the rising cost of gasoline] certainly increases our costs at a time when other production costs keyed to the cost of petroleum are rising. The plastic-based fabric we use to suppress weeds, the plastic pots we use to start seeds are all exerting a downward pressure that increases our challenge to cover our costs," says Goranson. "And there is really no equitable way to pass those costs on to consumers. We have spent years developing a loyal customer base. We, more than many farms, have an opportunity to adjust prices but it's a limited opportunity. So we're doing anything we can to stick it out until energy prices stabilize."

Unfortunately, the energy bill (H.R. 6) recently enacted by Congress, which I opposed, will do nothing to lower the price of energy, especially at the gas pump. Instead, it gives away billions in taxpayer-funded subsidies to the big energy companies-which are already awash in profits. Although record-high per barrel oil prices provide the industry with plenty of motivation to expand, the bill provides $2.6 billion in tax credits to the oil and gas industry for natural gas distribution lines, geological exploration and refinery upgrades. The bill also gives "royalty relief" to private firms drilling for oil and gas on public lands and in public waters, which means more money to the drillers and less to the public.

The new energy law-nearly 5 years in the making-also does little to reduce our consumption of oil or our dependence on imported oil. This legislation promotes an energy policy designed to drill our way out of the problem, a goal as sure to drain the federal treasury as it is to fail.

Buried in the middle of all this waste are a few small programs and policies that do point in the right direction. The bill includes a production tax credit (1.9 cent per kilowatt-hour) for renewable forms of energy such as wind, biomass and landfill gas. This means that Maine's first wind farms, proposed for Mars Hill, may move forward. Hydropower operations that become more efficient to increase power production will also be eligible for the tax credit.

Farmers have long understood that with oil and gas prices out of their control, they must seek energy savings through better efficiency and conservation. Bussie York, owner of Sandy River Farm in Farmington, is doing just this through the use of a new "heatless" drying system for corn. Before cattle corn can be stored, it must be dried. Conventional dryers operate on propane fuel. The new dryers will save thousands of dollars annually on energy costs. Mr. York believes that many farms could lower energy costs by harnessing wind power. He is also toying with the idea of using a heat exchanger to capture heat generated by his cattle herd to heat his home and other farm buildings. "I think we are missing some great opportunities here. Look at all the land that was previously used for farming; if we could cut those former pastures, the grass could be palletized to use for fuel or could be converted to ethanol," says York. "It could produce a new cash crop and could keep a lot of land in open space."

Like Bussie suggests, today's farmers should consider becoming energy producers, since solar, wind and biofuel energy can be generated and used on-farm to reduce energy costs and increase energy independence. The concept of renewable fuels made from biomass and farm or forest-based feedstocks is not new, but as technologies improve, new opportunities arise. State and federal programs can assist growers with on-farm projects. Further information on these possibilities can be obtained from the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service at www.attra.org/energy.html. Funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the service provides information and other technical assistance to farmers, ranchers, Extension agents, educators, and others involved in sustainable agriculture in the United States.

As a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, I will continue to fight for energy policies and programs that will actually reduce energy costs by improving efficiency, conservation, and greater reliance on home-grown sustainable alternative fuels. In the meantime, farmers and other businesses should take advantage of the few programs that promote these efforts.

http://tomallen.house.gov/showart.asp?issueID=0&contentID=1694