This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Utah's Office of Energy Development has created the new Agriculture Producer Energy Efficiency program, designed to assist Utah's agriculture producers in reducing the demand for water and energy at their operations.

The program, in its first year, will reach out to agricultural industries around the state, including farmers, ranchers, and all the other major agricultural users of water and electricity with a mission to lower energy costs.

Producers will be given energy efficiency audits at a very low cost or for free.

Agriculture producers eligible for an energy audit include those who have outdated fluorescent lighting, plate coolers, ventilation fans, motors, transfer pumps, scroll compressors, irrigation systems and pumps, washers, heat recovery, vacuum pumps and high-pressure lighting.

Audits began in 2012 with dairy farmers in northern Utah and will be expanded statewide to include outreach and training.

For information, contact Perry Thomson at Utah's Office of Energy Development at 435-586-4205 or pthomson@utah.gov or local offices of the Natural Resources Conservation Service or Utah Association of Conservation Districts.