•
FARMVISIT
•
THE
VEGETABLE
FARMER •
JANUARY 2017
34
RENEWABLE ENERGY HELPS VEGETABLE
GROWER IMPROVE CASH FLOW
A Shropshire based speciality field vegetable farm has
recently invested in two biomass boilers to help improve
cash flow andmitigate against rising labour costs.
F
arm diversification can
offer the agricultural
sector stable and
predictable returns, making
farm businesses more resilient,
with a broader portfolio of
enterprises for future
generations. Andwithmore
than half (61%) of farms
involvedwith some kind of
diversified activity*, there’s been
significant growth in renewable
energy, as one of these
diversification options.
Will Woodhall, farmmanager
at Woodhall Farm, grows both
conventional and organic spring
onions and red beetroot over
approximately 300 hectares.
“We supply G’s and around
80% of our beetroot goes into
the premium juicemarket, and
the rest is vacuum packed for
supermarkets,” he says.
Since the significant increase
in the livingwage, the farm’s
labour costs have rocketed up
by over £50,000 for their 150
migrant workers. Will was
concerned that, with further
increases planned in the next
five years, the business would
not be viable without amajor
change.
“We chose to gowith
biomass for the extra benefits
that it can present, andwe’ve
now got two Froling biomass
boilers - one 250kW and one
500kW that run off dried
woodchip,” saysWill.
To keep running costs to a
minimumWill has decided to
chip and dry the wood he buys
himself. “At first, we bought in
pre-driedwoodchip, but it was
pretty costly at between £70
and £110 per tonne. The
smaller boiler can take recycled
wood pallets, that are
considerably cheaper at around
£30 per tonne, but in the long
run I found that just as
expensive as they didn’t burn so
well and could clog up the
boiler.”
Roundwood is bought in at
£42 per tonne and is chipped
then dried to an optimum
moisture content of 25% on the
200m2 drying floor. “We’re able
to dry up to 55 tonnes of
woodchip in just two days,
when it could take two years to
dry naturally,” he says.
“Not many people have the
facility to dry their own
woodchip, so there was a gap
in themarket to dry it to sell to
others for their boilers, andwe
now dry woodchip for a big
commercial chipping yard down
the road to help speed up their
operation.”
The installation has
encouragedmore scope for
diversification andWill’s started
playingwith the idea of drying
speciality herbs as well as grass
for hay, which could be a great
added income for wet British
summers.
“We get a good income from
dryingwoodchip but we also
make big savings on heating the
house andmy workshop, and of
course the woodchip drying
floor is heated by the boiler
too.”
Although the onions and
beetroot are high value crops,
the bulk of the cashflow only
really comes at harvest. “The
RHI subsidy we get means we
have amore constant income,
not tomention energy cost
savings, and our cashflow has
been greatly improved by selling
the driedwoodchip, thanks to
the rapid drying process.”
Now that Will has seen the
benefits of a renewable energy
installation he’s keen to invest
further, and is considering
planting the energy crop,
miscanthus to fuel his boiler.
The renewable energy industry
is nowmaturing, andwhile the
reduction of support over the
last year has been sharper than
many would have wanted -
opportunities for energy
projects remain plentiful for
farmers, with falling equipment
installation costs and innovative
solutions being brought
forward.
And for growers that are keen
to find out more about how
renewable energy can benefit
them, Will recommends the
Energy Now Expo event, that
takes place on February 8 and 9
2017, at the Telford
International Centre, Shropshire.
(For further details see -
.)
“The event is targeted at
farmers looking to diversify and
it has all the latest innovations,
and policy updates on each
renewable energy type. We
sourced the advice we needed
to and nowwe’re reaping the
rewards,” he says.
* Statistic taken fromDEFRA Farm
Accounts in England – Results from
the Farm Business Survey 2014/15
Will Woodhall, farmmanager at Woodhall Farm, with thewoodchipwhich he
chips and dries himself.
