Michigan farms are in a unique position, they have the chance to provide their own biomass for energy generation. Farmers have easy access to crop residues and wastes that can be combusted to provide energy for their farm. Producers can also choose to grow certain crops specifically for energy production. There is a chance to learn more about providing biomass for energy on your farm at the Powering Michigan Agriculture Conference.

The milking parlor and robotic milker (shown above) at Weiss Centennial Farm are kept warm with hot water generating by a biomass-burning gasifier. (Courtesy Weiss Centennial Farm).

Weiss Centennial Farms, near Frankenmuth, is an example of a farm that uses biomass grown on the farm to produce heat. Trees grown on the farm are harvested, cut to size, and fed to a Heiss Heater gasifier. The gasifier heats water used to provide heat to several buildings on the farm and hot water for sanitary purposes in the milking parlor. The biomass heating system has been fully operational since May 2015. Joanmarie and Roger Weiss will share their experience with the biomass heating system during a panel discussion at the conference.

Weiss Centennial Farms are one of the many farms participating in the panel discussion of on-farm applications of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies at the Powering Michigan Agriculture with Renewable Energy Conference. There will be a variety of other sessions held at the conference help farmers learn about implementing renewable energy technologies on their farm.

The conference isThursday, March 10 at the Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center in East Lansing. This daylong program will begin at 8:30 a.m. and conclude at 4 p.m. The $35 registration fee for the conference includes lunch. Preregistration is preferred. Online registration closes March 6.  More details about this conference and registration can be found online.

Questions about the conference can be directed to Charles Gould at [email protected] or 616-994-4547 or Al Go at [email protected] or 517-214-6128.

Gould and Go write for Michigan State University.