Trials at the Greater Sydney Demonstration Farm show that adding high-grade recycled-organics composts to soils prior to planting has a number of potential benefits for vegetable growers.

Bathurst mixed-farming operator Jeff McSpedden, who grows corn commercially for Simplot, turned to next-gen compost to replace biosolids, deemed a health risk.

Second-generation vegetable farmers Sam and Val Micallef switched to recycled organics compost augmented with slow-release nitrogen to produce more and better vegies for Sydney Markets.

An energy audit of Carramar dairy farm in Womboota found significant savings could be made by renegotiating the electricity tariff for the property’s water pump, optimising the performance of its power-hungry plate cooler, recovering waste heat from the chiller and installing LEDs. Simple.

An energy audit of Skinner Partnership, a dairy operation in Dubbo, Central New South Wales, found that substantial savings could be made by upgrading pumps, installing a variable speed drive on the milk vacuum pump, and adding heat-recovery units to the dairy’s plant and vat washes.

By making the conversion from diesel to electric pumping, DP Ag, a family-run cotton-farming business near Moree, has reduced its diesel consumption by 60%, saving more than $46,000 a year.

Interested in their options after the solar feed-in tariff ends in December 2016, the Jarretts explored the potential of investing in solar PV battery storage, electrification of its farm vehicles, a new, energy-efficient coolroom and integrated solar pumping options to reduce energy costs and help build a 'sustainable' brand image.

Gundamain Feedlot has identified an opportunity to combine battery storage with solar PV to maximise the savings it makes from solar.

Approximately 40% potential energy savings were discovered from on-site generation using a combination of solar and wind. But how will the business case stack up? Monitoring and understanding energy usage provides the key.

Bulls Run Manager Scott Hughes is investigating the potential for swapping out diesel pumps for electric to irrigate selected paddocks on his 7,497-hectare lamb and cropping operation to save energy costs and water use.