Chapter 1-Current Energy Usage

The purpose of the Poultry House Evaluation Service was to provide growers with options for reducing energy usage in their poultry houses. In order to evaluate the magnitude of any reduction it is important to know the current energy usage. There was a wide range of past energy usage by the different farms sampled. It should be noted that the level of energy use by a farm does not appear to be correlated with the level of production efficiency on that farm. The economic impacts of any recommended modifications, therefore, will vary from farm to farm and be farm-specific.

Figure 1.1. Annual level of propane use on each of the 14 farms visited

Figure 1.2. Annual level of electricity use on each of the 14 farms visited

The level of propane and electricity used by each of the 14 farms evaluated are shown in Figure 1.1 and Figure 1.2, respectively. The usage was converted to a weight basis (i.e., per 1,000 lbs of broilers sold) to allow for comparisons between farms. The same identification number was used for the farms in Figures 1.1 and 1.2.