With droughts, floods and other extreme weather impacting farm profitability across the country, cutting input costs is becoming even more critical to building a resilient future for Australian agriculture. On-farm renewable energy is proving to be a powerful tool to help farmers get there.
Tom Warren, a grazier in the Central West NSW hosts a 20 MW solar farm, which his merino sheep graze under, and has also diversified his farm income through two smaller 100 kW solar installations he owns on his property.
‘I sell the power produced from the two 100 kW solar installations on the domestic market as well as on the spot market. At times, we make a few hundred a month from the spot market, and that’s passive income,’ said Mr Warren.
‘When you have an independent off-farm income stream, you take away the issues we face as farmers, from unpredictable weather and fluctuations in commodity prices. Having solar on the farm will likely help to underpin the financial viability of your enterprise as it has for us.’
Another farmer, Mike Casey from New Zealand, has been electrifying his farm over the last few years and has the first electric Monarch Tractor in the southern hemisphere. He has recently installed batteries on his farm and converted a ute to electric.
‘We have a six hectare cherry orchard in Central Otago with 21 electric machines that saves about $40,000 a year in energy bills which is a huge amount of inputs,’ said Mr Casey.
‘The cost of solar and batteries are at such a good price now, that rolling those out will really reduce our costs of operations on farms as well as the cost of living in general.
‘I’m on a wholesale electricity contract now, so I can use my large batteries for protection against exposure to the open power market, and that means I can turn what has always been considered a risk, into an opportunity for farming.
‘My batteries will actually earn an income for the farm over the year. That’s a whole new revenue stream for farming that’s a significant opportunity for farmers.’
Renewables driving down costs and pollution in agriculture
Tom Warren and Mike Casey are two of the speakers at the National Renewables in Agriculture Conference 2025, taking place in Bendigo, Victoria, on July 23.
The conference will bring together farmers, energy experts, researchers, industry leaders and government representatives to explore the practicalities, opportunities and challenges of renewable energy in agriculture.
Conference Founder and farmer Karin Stark says momentum is building across the sector.
‘Farmers are increasingly turning to renewables to tackle the challenge of rising diesel and electricity prices. But there’s still work to be done in making the right technologies available and ensuring regional contractors and services are equipped to deliver.’
The conference will also explore agriculture’s growing role in decarbonising the electricity grid. ‘We’ll be discussing the evolving distribution network and microgrids, and the potential for smaller, distributed solar projects on farms—say 5 MW systems—feeding directly into the local network,’ said Ms Stark.
‘There are also emerging opportunities for farmers to be paid for providing energy services as new markets develop.’
She says that with consumers demanding lower-carbon products and farmers facing rising energy costs, the integration of solar, bioenergy, and electric machinery is no longer a vision of the future – it’s happening now.
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