The National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) and the Energy Efficiency Council (EEC) have partnered to support farmers in finding energy savings through a new management guide.
The guide, Leveraging tax incentives to improve energy performance, shows how farm businesses can make savings by capitalising on tax incentives when buying new assets or upgrading.
NFF Acting Chief Executive, Charlie Thomas, said food production required significant amounts of energy, and rising electricity prices were weighing on farmers’ minds.
“Energy bills have more than doubled for some farmers, but there are ways to switch on savings,” Mr Thomas said.
“The guide we’ve developed with EEC gives farmers information and real life examples of farmers driving down their energy costs.
“There are great stories across our sector – from piggeries powering their entire operation with manure to farms that have implemented efficient irrigation techniques to boost crop yields while cutting their energy bills in half. As energy prices go up, we need to support farmers to keep their costs down.”
The EEC’s Navigating a dynamic energy landscape series and NFF co-developed farms sector spotlight guides farms on ways to cut costs, improve productivity and reduce emissions with energy efficiency, renewables and demand management.
EEC CEO, Luke Menzel, said the Australian Government had introduced and extended several tax depreciation incentives to support businesses recovering from the impacts of COVID-19.
Savvy businesses were using the measures to boost the business case for energy upgrades.
“By activating the temporary full expensing measure to invest in energy-saving assets like energy-efficient boilers, refrigerators, office equipment and more, businesses can drastically improve the business case for energy upgrades, which is already increasingly stacking up as energy prices go through the roof,” Mr Menzel said.
“But these incentives won’t last forever. Farmers should get in now so they can start reaping the benefits of smart energy management.”
