Strategies to reduce energy use in dairy milking facilities

The aim of this paper was to assess how, and to what extent do managerial and technology changes affect electricity consumption, associated costs and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of dairy farms. The impact of future electricity price tariffs on dairy farm energy costs was quantified and the efficacy of adjusting milking time to mitigate peak electricity prices was explored. A dairy farm electricity and economic model was applied to assess the potency of technology investment strategies to improve farm profitability and deliver a return on capital invested. The results of this study showed that the most efficacious technology investment strategy to increase farm profitability consisted of a direct expansion milk cooling system with pre-cooling of milk to 15°C with well-water prior to entry to the milk storage tank and heating water with an electrical water heating system. An individual farmer can also choose to minimise electricity use, related costs and GHG emissions, with the trade-off of reduced profitability by adding a solar thermal water heating system. Or indeed minimise electricity costs, with the trade-off of reduced performance in the areas of farm profitability, electricity use and associated GHG emissions by choosing an ice bank cooling system. Analysis of various electricity tariffs showed that the Day&Night electricity tariff minimised annual electricity costs. Likewise, we have provided information showing that electricity cost savings of over 30% can be realized by milking earlier in the morning and later in the evening.