“Working with PennTAP has been nothing short of incredible. The advisors took care of any questions, concerns or issues that arose immediately and made the entire process super easy for us. Highly recommend their work.” — Corey Wilt, Owner, Cedar Grove Farm

The Need

Cedar Grove Farm raises hogs and cows for profit and grows wheat, soybean, and corn for animal feed on 900 acres in Everett, Pennsylvania.

Cedar Grove Farm wanted to replace the existing outdoor batch grain dryer with a more energy efficient continuous flow grain dryer. The existing burner had become unreliable in producing quality dried wheat and soybean and was damaging the corn harvest. This was limiting the farm’s crop output, leading to outsourcing and thus a loss in profits. Owner Corey Wilt was referred to PennTAP by the United States Department of Agriculture’s Rural Energy for America Program (USDA REAP) to complete an energy assessment and provide a technical analysis and report for their project.

The Project

PennTAP Advisor Alanna Colvin, with the assistance of a Penn State graduate student assistant, conducted an Energy Efficiency/Pollution Prevention (E2/P2) assessment of Cedar Grove Farm in January 2022. They evaluated the energy use of the current grain dryer against the expected operations of the new equipment with the same harvest results. This project was funded in part by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PA DEP) and the U.S. Department of Energy’s State Energy Program.

Colvin determined that a new grain dryer would not only save the farm on energy and money, but would also reduce the time spent drying and improve the quality of the crop output. She assisted Wilt with the applications for both the USDA REAP grant and the PA DEP Small Business Advantage Grant (SBAG) to help cover the cost of upgrading the farm’s grain dryer.

Outcomes and Benefits

With PennTAP’s assistance, Cedar Grove Farm was successfully awarded both a USDA REAP grant for $13,398 and an additional $5,000 in grant awards through the PA DEP SBAG to assist in the purchase of a new grain dryer. Cedar Grove successfully installed their new equipment in May 2022 in time for the summer wheat harvest.

The new system is expected to save 3,947 gallons of propane and 4,185 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year, equivalent to $7,640 annually.

PennTAP is committed to helping achieve nine of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Of those nine goals, this project aligned with:

About the Client
Cedar Grove Farm
Phone: (814) 934-1915
County: Bedford
Industry: Agriculture