Power outages can significantly impact agricultural businesses. Loss of power disrupts critical farm infrastructure such as livestock water systems, electric fences, milk-harvesting equipment, automated feeding systems, heat or refrigeration, and irrigation systems
Agriculture Victoria hosted a webinar to explore backup power options during a power outage.
During the webinar Agriculture Victoria’s Richard Smith gave an overview of the impacts of power outages on agricultural businesses. Liz Fletcher, Managing Director of Birdwood Energy, discussed alternative power options available and what to consider when selecting a system. Joel Vanderuit, General Manager at Tall Trees nursery, explained why he has implemented a battery and solar backup power system. The final speaker was Bruce Manintveld, a dairy farmer in Gippsland, who shared his story of the impacts a power outage had on his business and why having a generator for backup power is a high priority.
This webinar was recorded on 15 December 2021 and all information was accurate at the time of recording.
Transcript – Backup power options in agriculture – Webinar recording
Further Information
More information on backup power options:
Other webinars in the series:
- Understanding your electricity bill and supply – Webinar recording
- Energy Efficiency on Dairy Farms – Webinar recording
- Solar on-farm – Webinar recording
- Bioenergy – Webinar recording
- Energy Efficiency in Horticulture – Webinar recording
- Irrigation Energy Efficiency – Webinar recording
Acknowledgements
The Agriculture Victoria Energy Webinar Series is part of the Victorian Government’s Agriculture Energy Investment Plan, which is supporting producers to improve energy usage on-farm.
Energy Smart Farming acknowledges the contribution of Bruce Manintveld to this webinar and are sadden by his passing in February 2024.
