200 Farms signed-up to save fuel
r.mannion | Monday, December 13th, 2010 | No Comments »Farmers from across the nine European countries participating in the Efficient20 project are looking forward to see their tractors’ fuel consumption fall in 2011.
Since the project’s launch in July, Ruralnet Futures and other Efficient20 project partners have been busy recruiting pilot groups of farmers and foresters to take part in implementing a variety of fuel saving measures that should see them making a 20% saving in diesel usage by 2013.
At a project meeting last week in Slovenia, French partners AILE (Association of Local Initiatives for Energy & Environment) who are coordinating pilot group recruitment reported that 26 pilot groups, comprising 200 farms, were now up and running. Recruitment will continue into the New Year with the hope of establishing 30 pilot groups. In the UK we are working with farmers in Staffordshire and Shropshire and are looking to set up our third pilot group in Warwickshire.
Austrian partners, the Francisco Josephinium Research Institute, presented a handbook of fuel saving measures which will form the core technical input to pilot group training sessions. Compiled from over twenty years of research by agricultural institutes into tractor fuel efficiency coupled with extensive experience of delivering hands-on farmer training, the handbook covers everything from the effects of tractor maintenance and driver behaviour to operation specific factors such as correct selection of tyre pressures and optimal working depth for cultivation.
As we move into 2011, farmers will begin recording their fuel consumption for a variety of activities to identify where their greatest potential for fuel saving lies. Focused training and ongoing measurement will then help farmers chart their progress towards their 20% reduction target. With farmers reporting diesel prices topping 60p/litre in some areas of the UK – a staggering 30% rise on November prices – such savings can’t come quickly enough!
