On the farm: This farm is getting greener

In the widespread transition to green energy, motivated entrepreneurs are developing projects that can benefit from federal and state government spending. The Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERTs), a partnership of four Minnesota institutions, encourages such projects through seed grants awarded in seven regions throughout the state. This year, the Northeast CERT awarded the Food Farm in Wrenshall $5,000 to conduct an in-depth energy analysis of its operation, with the goal to establish a strategy in applying for larger grants under federal programs such as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act, both of which came into effect in the past three years and which are boosting renewable energy sources in the U.S. The analysis and strategy will be a model for other farms and for small businesses to assess their energy framework and to apply for tax credits and/or rebates for the transition to solar panels, electric vehicles, and the like.

A core team of five people from Food Farm and four outside consultants developed the plan that will study the farm’s energy use, including infrastructure, vehicles, machines and more, and its energy production, e.g., from solar panels. In order to standardize various units of input/output, such as gallons of fuel, voltage of batteries, BTU of firewood, etc., all units are converted to kilowatt-hours. A key aspect of the plan is to analyze the farm’s financials and the criteria of various grants in order to develop an application strategy. If the income of a farm or other business is too low, a grant’s tax credit would not be worthwhile; if the income is too high, the operation might not qualify for rebates that a grant offers. In either case, it will be helpful for grant seekers to have an application strategy.

Food Farm has been a leader in establishing and developing earth-friendly vegetable farming in the Lake Superior region. They were early adopters of sustainable methods, such as pre-season community investment, organic field practices for production, solar panels for energy production, and a battery-driven tractor. They regularly employ people who are interested in farming as a business. Such workers are often young women who develop agricultural and business skills and go on to set up operations of their own; frequently, they remain in contact with Food Farm. Over the years, the employees have offered valuable ways to improve efficiency, including in energy use. The CERT grant will allow Food Farm to look in depth at its energy activity and to develop a more efficient setup to be a model for like-minded farmers and business owners in the region.

According to the CERTs website, in 2024 the teams awarded $43,000 to several projects in each of seven Minnesota regions, for a total of $301,000. Since 2006, they have awarded seed grants to 509 clean energy projects. The sources of funds are the U.S. Department of Energy, the Minnesota Department of Commerce, and the Morgan Family Foundation (a grant maker of Quaker heritage in Yellow Springs, Ohio). The CERTs grantmaking partners are the University of Minnesota Extension, the Minnesota Department of Commerce, the Great Plains Institute (a nonprofit with a national scope), and the Southwest Regional Development Commission (a nine-county regional development agency in southwest Minnesota).

John Sanford “Sandy” Dugan and his wife are stewards of 54 acres in the Wrenshall area. Contact Sandy at [email protected].