Farm renewables event will run on 12th August in NSW
Farm renewables will be the focus in Orange, NSW, on 12th August as Australian producers weigh rising fuel and fertiliser costs alongside pressure to cut emissions.
The National Renewables in Agriculture Conference and Expo returns after two sold-out years. Organisers say this year’s programme will look at whether electrifying farm operations and reducing emissions can stack up commercially.
The event comes as farming businesses face volatile commodity prices, labour shortages and increasingly variable weather conditions. A farmer-only networking session is also scheduled for the afternoon of 11th August, followed by optional farm tours on 13th August to either a solar-powered winery or the Flyers Creek Wind Farm.
Conference founder Karin Stark said imported fuel remained a key vulnerability for the sector. “Australia currently imports 90% of our refined fuels and we’ve seen how vulnerable agriculture is to global supply shocks,” Stark said.
Farmers using turbine and litter income
Among the farmers highlighted for the conference is Gippsland producer Chris Freney, who said his poultry litter project had been designed around three revenue sources: electricity generation, captured carbon dioxide and nutrients recovered from the digestion process.
Freney said the methane-fuelled system was designed to generate about 8.5MW of dispatchable electricity, with around half to be used on farm and the rest sold into the market. He said the project used about 10,000 tonnes of litter a year and had been designed for 35,000 tonnes.
“Our focus is a reliable 5pm -11pm supply. We can provide this 365 days a year,” Freney said.
Woorndoo farmer Peter Coy is also set to feature. Coy runs the Salt Creek Scholarship programme with Tilt Renewables using income from one wind turbine on his stud merino farm, with $30K a year helping about eight students so far with accommodation and living expenses for tertiary education in the city.
The conference programme is set to cover battery storage, solar-powered irrigation, electric farm vehicles, biofuels and on-farm fertiliser production. The main conference is on 12th August.
