Home-Grown Solutions
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BIG FARMS BENEFIT, TOO
Whether they host a community solar project or install a private system of their own, farms of all sizes can benefit — not just small producers... One example is Huntsinger Farms, which grows horseradish, soybeans, corn and forage crops on approximately 5,000 acres in Eau Claire, Wis. The world’s largest grower and processor of horseradish, which it sells under the brand Silver Spring, it installed a 288-panel solar array in 2020. The system produces approximately 135,000 kilowatt hours per year, which constitutes about 20 percent of the farm’s annual electricity usage. The system cost nearly $250,000 to install, says Eric Rygg, president of Silver Spring Foods and a fourth-generation farmer. “But after grants and tax incentives, we were able to get our out-of-pocket costs down to $60,000 or $70,000. It generates about $10,000 to $12,000 worth of energy for us a year that we would otherwise have to (purchase through) the utility, so that’s about a five- to six-year return.” Rygg says reducing the impact on the environment — however small — is another benefit. “I don’t expect our investment in solar to change the world as far as the fires in California or the flooding in Florida, or whatever the case may be,” he says. “However, small steps in this direction — and a lot of them over a long period of time — are helpful.”
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Read full article HERE
USA Today
Special Edition
U.S. Department of Agriculture
page 28
Home-Grown Solutions
Matt Alderton
Whether they host a community solar project or install a private system of their own, farms of all sizes can benefit — not just small producers... One example is Huntsinger Farms, which grows horseradish, soybeans, corn and forage crops on approximately 5,000 acres in Eau Claire, Wis. The world’s largest grower and processor of horseradish, which it sells under the brand Silver Spring, it installed a 288-panel solar array in 2020. The system produces approximately 135,000 kilowatt hours per year, which constitutes about 20 percent of the farm’s annual electricity usage. The system cost nearly $250,000 to install, says Eric Rygg, president of Silver Spring Foods and a fourth-generation farmer. “But after grants and tax incentives, we were able to get our out-of-pocket costs down to $60,000 or $70,000. It generates about $10,000 to $12,000 worth of energy for us a year that we would otherwise have to (purchase through) the utility, so that’s about a five- to six-year return.” Rygg says reducing the impact on the environment — however small — is another benefit. “I don’t expect our investment in solar to change the world as far as the fires in California or the flooding in Florida, or whatever the case may be,” he says. “However, small steps in this direction — and a lot of them over a long period of time — are helpful.”
.
.
.
Read full article HERE
USA Today
Special Edition
U.S. Department of Agriculture
page 28
Home-Grown Solutions
Matt Alderton
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