Eight farms received a boost to their environmental performance recently when a total of £89,000 was awarded to help them run more efficiently. The farms received their funding from the Rural Development Programme for England.
The money will be spent on new equipment for the farms, including heat exchange units, rain water harvesting and slurry separation and application kit. The funding will help farms use less fuel and run more efficiently.
David Sykes, from New Dunsley Farm, in Holmfirth, received £12,000 for a new heat exchanger on his poultry farm. The heat exchanger pulls old, stale air from the chicken shed and extracts the waste heat it contains. This captured energy is used to heat clean, fresh air as it is pumped back in to the shed. This not only saves money on the propane that was previously used to heat the shed, but also improves the health of the birds. David said, "The new heat system has been a great success, both saving the farm money and making the livestock healthier. It’s been great to be able to install the new heating as part of the redevelopment of the sheds, we would not have been able to do this without this financial help."
New Dunsley Farm received this grant through the Farm Resource Efficiency Programme, delivered by CO2Sense. Over the last year, funding like this has helped farms to save over £100,000 and 245 tonnes of CO2.This programme offers grants to farmers to improve the overall economic performance of their holdings through the introduction of new technology to promote energy, manure and water efficiency.
CO2Sense is a not for profit organisation that helps the low carbon sector to grow, and all businesses, including farms, to save money and carbon by becoming more efficient.
Vicky Wren, CO2Sense Project Manager, said "Farmers can make important savings by implementing some simple measures. We are continuing this support with more funding opportunities and information about farming more efficiently in the pipeline."
More funding will be available in the coming months for farm based projects. Those interested should email Vicky Wren on Vicky.wren@co2sense.org.uk or call 0113 237 8461.
The Rural Development Programme for England is jointly funded by Defra and the European Union (The European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development: Europe investing in rural areas) and managed by Yorkshire Forward.
