Some small to medium-size dairy farms are getting a helping hand from the Government to save energy in their dairy sheds and money.
The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority is running a Dairy Shed Heat Recovery programme with funding to assist about 40 farms to adopt heat recovery technology.
The programme's manager, Kirk Archibald, says a pilot programme run two seasons ago identified that using wasted heat from dairy shed's refrigeration systems to heat their water was the most effective way for farmers to save energy.
Mr Archibald says while many large dairy farming operations have already invested in the technology, the Dairy Shed Heat Recovery programme is aimed at helping smaller farmers introduce it.
About 20 farms have had the technology installed so far and it is hoped 20 more will use it.
Mr Archibald says farmers who apply for the grant can also apply for insulation on their vats or variable speed drives on their vacuum pumps.
