Farmer Touts Electric Wells Over Diesel-Powered Pumps
August 13, 2010
Jonesboro Sun
By Curt Hodges
POCAHONTAS — David Smith said he is amazed by the savings he has realized by replacing diesel fuel to power his irrigation system with electric wells with variable-speed drives.
“The best I can tell is it saves me about $3 an hour in pumping costs” over diesel-powered pumps, Smith, who farms 1,500 acres in Randolph County said after a demonstration on his farm southeast of Pocahontas on Wednesday morning.
Smith and his wife, Nancy Smith, have received a Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) grant for $8,604 and used their own funds to complete the $34,416 changeover for an irrigation pump that serves two fields on his farm near the Shannon community known as the “Chat Road Farm.”
“The beauty of this is that it goes right to the bottom line,” said Kenneth Smith (no relation), executive director of the Arkansas Business Leaders for a Clean Environment. “This is one of the most energy-efficient systems I have ever seen.”
The REAP program is part of the U.S. Farm Bill, and Kenneth Smith sees it as something that could have a positive impact on the state’s farming community.
“I can see variable-speed electric motor systems replacing diesel power on a lot of irrigation pumps around the state,” he told The Sun.
The system involves a controller that operates the electric powering the pump. At the Smiths’ farm, the well they changed is near a 20,000 bushel grain bin in the middle of a 47-acre rice field and an 80-acre corn field, both of which are irrigated from the well.
The same controller can be used to operate the grain bin motor systems and can also result in energy savings in that application, Kenneth Smith said.
Basically, the controller allows adjustment of the motor speed to fit the need. Thus, he said, the pump won’t discharge more water than needed, and the grain drying system won’t operate at a fixed speed even though a slower speed might be more efficient.
Operating at a slower speed saves energy and saves money, Kenneth Smith said.
The farmer said he believes the payoff for the new system will be sooner than he expected. He also plans to install a second electric well with variable-speed controller on another farm he operates.
He based his calculations on diesel fuel at $2.43 per gallon. He said it takes about three gallons an hour to power the well, a little more than $7 per hour in fuel costs.
The electric well operates for about $3 per hour. Plus, the farmer said, there are little to no maintenance and service costs for an electric well, whereas a diesel engine has to be serviced at about 200 operating hours at a cost of $50-100 per unit for oil, filters and other needs, not counting the time required to change the oil and filters and the time the well isn’t pumping during service.
“There’s a lot of benefits to it for me,” David Smith said. “I don’t have anything bad at all to say about it.”
He is also planning to use poly pipe to reduce irrigation needs and pumping costs and is looking forward to more efficient and cost-effective grain drying this fall.
USDA officials estimate the change will allow reduction of the use of some 8,400 gallons of diesel per season on the two wells slated for the electric motors and control panels.
Lori Barker, Natural Resources Conservation Service coordinator for the 11-county Ozark Foothills Resource, Conservation and Development Council, said three other farms in the Ozark Foothills Council area participated in the program and received grants for installing energy-efficient electric motors on irrigation wells, grain bin complexes and on “grain pullout” systems.
Barker said qualifying farmers can apply for grants from the new federal energy program which can be used for up to 25-percent of a project’s total eligible costs. The grants are limited to $500,000 for renewable energy projects and $250,000 for energy efficiency improvements.
The grants are not limited to replacing diesel with efficient electric motors and can be used in other applications, such as replacing grain dryer systems with more efficient ones.
Barker said there have been three other REAP applications in this area for grain drying and irrigation applications. They are Billy Ray James, 25 percent grant, $6,405 for two irrigation wells; James Joint Venture, 25 percent grant, $12,343 for four irrigation wells; and Wren Farms, 25 percent grant, $40,697, total project, $162,788 for 11 energy efficient electric motors on 11-bin grain complex.
http://www.jonesborosun.com/archivedstory.php?ID=44268&Search=REAP
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