For John and Marlene Bles, cattle ranching has been a “retirement occupation” for the last 20 years. Irrigation system inefficiencies and rising energy costs at their 950-acre ranch near Klamath Falls in Southern Oregon drove the Bleses to investigate better options. Energy-efficiency solutions and cash incentives from Energy Trust of Oregon caught their attention.
“Energy costs are by far our biggest expense,” John Bles said. “I bet they had reached 75% of our operating costs.” The couple recently installed new irrigation equipment that will save them an estimated 201,000 kilowatt-hours a year and $11,000 in annual energy costs.
Riding herd on labor and energy costs
The Bleses run about 300 to 500 cattle each year, including their own and those of others who lease the range land. The business is seasonal with new stock arriving in spring and grazing until around Thanksgiving when most are sold at auction.
All those cattle need to eat so the Bleses irrigate about 700 acres of pasture grass during the warm, dry months of April through September. Some years they grow up to 100 acres of summer hay as well.
Until recently, the ranch’s irrigation system included one center pivot and 15 wheel lines. “Wheel-line labor is very difficult,” John Bles said, “and over the last few years, it got really hard to find anyone willing to help out.”
On top of the labor challenges, Bles said his power bills kept going up. Since his irrigation system runs on well water with electric pumps, he decided on energy-efficient equipment upgrades that save water and also help manage energy costs.
The Bleses met Energy Trust representative Brad Moore at Sustainable Northwest events in the Upper Klamath Basin area where the three got talking about irrigation solutions. After reviewing an energy audit the rancher had commissioned several years ago, Moore and John Bles narrowed in on new pivot, pump and piping projects that would improve water coverage and reduce energy use. Moore helped calculate the project cost of $383,000 and an estimated cash incentive of $91,000 from Energy Trust.
Moore and the Lake County Resources Initiative (LCRI) also advised the Bleses to apply for grants that can further reduce the upfront investment. The National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) came through with funding that covered approximately 75% of the project costs.
Pipe, pump and pivot solutions
The Bleses settled on three irrigation system upgrades and worked with irrigation specialists JW Kearns, Inc., an Energy Trust trade ally contractor in Klamath Falls, to draw up the plans and install the new equipment.
The first priority was to replace 4,000 linear feet of above-ground mainline pipe that delivers water from the well to the irrigation system spread out over the property. The project included burying the new lines and trading up 2,100 linear feet of the old 12-inch aluminum pipe to 15-inch plastic pipe, which significantly reduces maintenance and leaks. Water flowing more freely through the larger pipe improves pump efficiency and decreases water usage.
The Bleses also upgraded the pumping station at their well. They consolidated from four pumps—one 100hp turbine pump plus one 60hp and two 40hp centrifugal booster pumps—to one 200hp turbine pump with a variable frequency drive (VFD). Where the older booster pumps either delivered too much or not enough water pressure, the new pump with VFD enables the ranchers to set and maintain the correct pressure, saving energy and water.
The last step was to replace five wheel lines with a half-circle pivot sprinkler system that can irrigate up to 143 acres using 1,000 gallons a minute. The new pivot and one previously installed at the ranch are effective at putting water down evenly across the acreage, which is also energy efficient because there’s less water to pump. “Replacing wheel lines with pivots makes my power costs more manageable and reduces labor costs,” said John Bles.
The upgrade projects will lead to other benefits not related to energy savings. Fewer wheel lines will reduce labor costs. More uniform, lower-cost irrigation means that the Bleses can increase pasture acreage and raise more cattle. These non-energy benefits are estimated at $66,000 a year.
John Bles recommends that ranchers and farmers who want to improve energy savings do an energy audit before anything else. He says it has been a helpful tool in making decisions about improvement projects. “The data is all there on paper for reference.”
He also values working with Energy Trust when he has the money to get after projects that improve energy use and efficiency. “Energy Trust helps it all come together,” he says. “It’s pretty simple to send them the facts and figures about my project and they send me the incentive check.”