Agricultural Opportunities
American Farmland Trust: Farmers
Powering Communities
- Aims to protect America’s most productive farmland
and ranchland while expanding equitable access to renewable energy. AFT’s
Smart Solar principles will guide the
location of projects to prioritize solar on buildings and land not well suited
for farming like the built environment and disturbed, contaminated, and
marginal lands to minimize conversion of our nation’s most
productive, versatile, and resilient
farmland.
Expert staff will help you integrate solar on your
property.
Farm Credit East Rural Energy for American Program
(REAP) Technical Assistance Grant
– REAP provides grant awards that
cover up to 50% of eligible project costs for renewable energy efficiency improvements
for agricultural producers. Farm
Credit East was
awarded funding to support customers in pursuit of these business improvements,
including direct grant writing assistance.
Contact your local Farm Credit East (Riverhead for Long
Island) to access these services.
PSEG Renewable Energy Remote Net
Metering
- Allows farm and
non-residential customers with wind, solar or farm waste electric generating
equipment at one location to utilize their excess generation to reduce their
electric bills on accounts at other locations. If solar is installed after 2018, Value of Distribution Energy Resources allows all solar credits remain
on an account for twenty years. Any
account that was solar before that date, gets reconciled on a yearly basis with
a buy back of .02-.05 cents per kWh.
SEIA Guide to Solar Land Leases – Solar developers
routinely contact farmers and other landowners to obtain sufficient land to
develop a financeable project. Leases can provide extra income to farmers by
turning unused or underused land into revenue generation opportunities. Before
committing, farmers should always understand the fundamental terms of the
proposed agreement, how the lease will affect their property, and the right
questions to ask developers.
USDA Environmental
Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) On-Farm Energy Initiative
- Helps farmers make
voluntary improvements that can boost energy efficiency on the farm. Benefits include
reduced input costs, increased productivity per unit of energy consumed by
equipment and lighting, and reduced air pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions
associated with agricultural use.
By developing an Agricultural
Energy Management Plan (AgEMP), financial assistance is available to improve
efficiency with a completed energy audit by NRCS-certified
Technical Service Providers (TSPs). TSPs provide itemized energy use from individual systems to
establish a baseline for electricity and other fuel improvements,
recommendations for equipment improvements and upgrades, potential energy
reductions and financial savings for each recommendation, cost estimates of
potential improvements, and length of expected payback for energy efficiency
upgrades. Once an AgEMP or other qualifying energy audit has been completed,
eligible producers can apply for EQIP assistance for the purchase,
installation, or retrofit of certain buildings or equipment to improve energy efficiency.
USDA Rural Energy
for America Program (REAP) - Provides guaranteed loan
financing and grant funding to agricultural producers and rural small
businesses for renewable energy systems and/or to make energy efficiency
improvements. Grants are available for up to 50 percent of total eligible
project costs.
Funds may be used for these
purchase and installation of renewable energy systems:
- Biomass (examples:
biodiesel and ethanol, anaerobic digesters, and solid fuels)
- Geothermal for electric generation or direct use, wind generation, and
solar generation.
- The purchase, installation and construction of energy
efficiency improvements, such as: high efficiency heating, ventilation and air
conditioning systems (HVAC), insulation, lighting, cooling or refrigeration
units, doors and windows, electric, solar or gravity pumps for sprinkler pivots,
and switching from a diesel to electric irrigation motor.
Contact New York’s USDA
Energy Coordinator, Gary Pereira, at
gary.pereira@usda.gov or 315-570-2233 for
more information.
Last updated April 17, 2024
