An asteroid apparently killed the dinosaurs 66 million years ago; now, it’s time for dairy farmers to dispose of their dinosaurs.
Energy consultant Gabriel Hakim from AgVet Energy told a Farming Sustainably for Future Generations workshop hosted by WestVic Dairy that getting rid of power-guzzling dinosaurs from the dairy could be the first step in creating a roadmap to a net-zero carbon dairy.
Speaking at the workshop at the Doolan family farm at Brucknell, Mr Hakim said the energy landscape had changed dramatically in the past 25 years with the introduction of solar power and new technologies, and farmers were keen to get on board.
“Everyone wants to know where to start but everyone has a different starting point and a different road to take,” he said.
However, he said there were easy steps that all farmers should follow: use less energy to reduce demand and waste, increase energy efficiency and monitor progress, and get the cheapest renewable source.
“The question you have to ask is `can we do it better and achieve the same outcomes with less’.”
Mr Hakim said farmers needed to ensure that what they changed in the dairy did not compromise milk quality, and that they constantly monitored new systems to check that savings were being made.
While many farmers have installed solar power, not all work as well as they should. Mr Hakim said a survey of Queensland farms found half had solar power but 60 per cent were not working properly.
“Farmers get excited about solar power but you have to know it’s working properly,” he said.
“And you have to remember that most milking times are not at peak solar times.”
Solar investment should have a payback period of 6.2 years if properly used.
Investing in new cooling, heating and vacuum systems can be costly but will pay off within a few years.
“You’ve got to get rid of dinosaurs from 20 or 30 years ago and don’t use crap domestic units and think they will work on a dairy,” he said.
“It’s like going to town on a horse.
“We need to help the industry shift from what we did 20 or 30 years ago to what we should be doing now. It’s a big investment and the upfront costs will be higher, but the overall cost base will be lower and the payback will be five to six years, and then farmers will be smiling.”
Mr Hakim said new technologies could reduce energy use by more than half while not adversely affecting hygiene and production.
“The number of times I go on-farm and see coolers not working correctly beggars belief,” he said.
“Most farms could save money by fixing their coolers.”
Mr Hakim said it was possible for farms to go to zero emissions.
“We can do it, but you’ve got to be clever. Success for farmers will be seeing their bills coming down.”