Cutting energy costs
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Agricultural engineers at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, have developed a new control system for milking machines that could save farmers 50 to 70 percent of the energy cost of milking cows.
It also would reduce the load placed on electric utility systems at milking time, which often overlaps periods of heavy household use for meal preparation. In dairy-intensive areas, these overlapping demands are a major factor in increasing the peak demand upon the utilities that serve them, which raises capital costs and ultimately raises customers’ rates.
Dairy producers who operate milking machines eight hours a day could recoup their investment in the system within four years from energy saving. For those whose milkers operate 18 hours a day, the payback would come within a single year.
More information is available from David Ludington, professor of agricultural and biological engineering, 425 Riley-Robb Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. 14853, 607-255-2008.
