By LIZ SWITZER, The Daily News, lswitzer@bgdailynews.com
Farm producers who missed out on federal energy stimulus funds in 2009 may get another chance to qualify in 2010 through the On-farm Energy Efficiency and Production investment area of the Kentucky Agricultural Development Fund’s County Agricultural Investment Program.
The energy efficiency incentive - lauded by state agricultural policymakers as a means for farmers to boost their bottom lines as energy costs rise - will be open to agricultural producers in all Kentucky counties in 2010 with any funds that remain from the 2009 sign-up, which ended Nov. 13.
Another application period is likely in late February or early March, said Bryan Thomas, compliance specialist with the Governor’s Office of Agricultural Policy in Frankfort.
“It is a given that our energy costs are going to continue to go up, and the sooner farmers can adopt some of these energy-efficient practices, the quicker they will get the return on it,” Thomas said. “And it helps our utility providers. If we can lower the overall demand for energy, then they don’t have to build new power plants that put so much strain on the existing infrastructure.”
Through the cost-share program, many energy upgrades are likely to pay for themselves in one to two years in energy savings, but if a farmer has to initially make a choice to fund such items on an individual basis, the choice is more likely to be a quicker pay-back item instead of an energy-efficient choice, said Timothy D. Hughes, GOAP senior policy analyst.
“The advantages of the program are that it helps the individual producer to move in a direction to make decisions on energy efficiency that they would not do otherwise,” Hughes said. “It provides them with the incentive to do that at the on-farm level.”
On-farm Energy Efficiency and Production is one of the 11 investment areas under the County Agricultural Investment Program, which offers assistance to agriculture producers for energy efficiency in farm operations, production of biomass crops or production of alternative energy for on-farm use.
Gov. Steve Beshear announced in September that more than $2 million in stimulus funds would be available to Kentucky agriculture under the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act for on-farm energy conservation, renewable energy production and regional renewable fuel projects.
As a result of a partnership between the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet and the Governor’s Office of Agricultural Policy, two energy-related programs are being implemented using federal stimulus funds.
A portion of the funds will provide a variety of opportunities for Kentucky farm families to increase farm energy efficiency and renewable fuel production, working in tandem with the On-farm Energy Efficiency and Production area of CAIP.
The remaining portion is earmarked for a Multi-county Collaborative Agricultural Energy Initiatives Program and will be used to complement tobacco settlement funds for grants to multicounty collaborations in order to enhance and advance renewable energy production at the farm level. Funding will be made available there for energy efficiency applications and renewable energy production.
“These are the type of investments that will make a farmer money long term,” Thomas said. “A lot of times we think it may cost a lot of money to do something, but we are finding that some of these are very inexpensive type upgrades so we want to get farmers thinking about making some of these investments.”
Sam Lawson, a Kentucky Agricultural Development Board member from Warren County, said: “The farmers out here are pretty creative. Give them a little bit of support and a little guidance and there is going to be a whole shopping list of ideas to get them started, from solar panels on their barn facilities to some wind opportunities.”
Energy stimulus incentives provide 25 percent reimbursement of the actual cost of a federally qualified energy saving item, up to $10,000. Permissible items include, but are not limited to, energy audits, energy efficient farm building components, on-farm energy upgrades and on-farm energy efficiency training.
All applications received from across the commonwealth will be reviewed and scored by a committee composed of representatives from GOAP, the Kentucky Agricultural Development Board, the UK College of Agriculture and a Rural Electric Cooperative.
— Questions about the application process may be directed to Bryan Thomas at (502) 564-4627 or bryan.thomas@ky.gov.
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