Dirtcraft Organics owners, Sarah Murphy and Adam Swartz, produce sustainably sourced, organic potting soils at their farm in rural Madison County. Their business, which began in 2018, serves organic farmers and garden centers throughout the southeast.
They recently installed a solar array with help from our Ag Energy Grant program which provided $7000 towards their costs. The system was sized at 110% of their energy needs and will provide energy for mixing, grinding, and conveying the soils. With the ability to sell off extra energy produced and reduce their usage, they can put these savings right back into their business.
"An underlying piece of our business' mission is to re-localize the supply chain for small farms in our region. Our focus has always been on sustainably harvested and renewable input materials for our potting mixes. It made natural sense to make the switch to renewable solar energy for our operations as soon as we were able to make the investment. The grants from both EnergyCAP and REAP in addition to the tax credits and bonus depreciation helped make it a no-brainer."
The North Carolina Tobacco Trust Fund Commission pays for our EnergyCAP Ag Energy Grant program. This round of funding is committed, but reach out to be first on our list if more comes through or someone drops out.
In addition, we are offering Technical Assistance for farmers and rural small businesses interested in applying to USDA's Rural Energy for America Program. We can help you navigate those various incentives that are available now. We are seeing historically high return on investment due to high cost share rates that may not last!
info@energycap.org 828-206-6159