Energy is one of the fastest growing on-farm costs (electricity costs alone have increased by around 350 percent since 2000). To help growers cut costs and improve their on-farm energy efficiency, CRDC, NCEA and CottonInfo (with support from the Department of Industry and Science) have been delivering the Improving energy efficiency on irrigated cotton farms project over the past two years, including delivering on-farm energy-audits to growers.
This report, Farm level benchmarking report of direct energy consumption in Australian irrigated cotton production, outlines the diesel and electricity used on cotton farms, based on the findings of 198 whole-farm energy assessments.