I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of drought and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror –
The wide brown land for me!

So many words in this stanza of the poem ring true. A land of drought and flooding rains for those in the North is quite poignant at this moment. But it is the reference to the sunburnt nature of this great land that captures my attention. While the rest of the world has seen us as nothing more than a quarry for a century, we are mining something new, and everyone can reap the rewards.

Of course, it is renewable energy that I refer to rather than minerals. I had the pleasure recently of attending a conference hosted by AgZero2030 titled “The Power Shift”, which included an excellent range of speakers. “Solar is your superpower” were the words spoken by Michael Casey, the New Zealand Cherry farmer who also co-authored Rewiring Aotearoa. He refers not only to solar energy but also wind energy. His message and that of others was clear: investment into renewable energy is far cheaper than buying it from your state energy supplier!

To be clear, this is not news. It currently costs almost $0.40/kWHr from Western Power, and the most recent installations in WA suggest that even when you borrow money for the infrastructure, a solar/battery combination costs around $0.10/kWHr. And wind is similarly cheap. The story is similar around the world.

Let’s take a step back and look at the current energy system available to you. The current system relies primarily on coal and gas-powered plants, supported by various other means, including renewables and battery storage. The latter are relatively new installations, but their impact is growing. It is estimated that the amount of energy generated by wind that will occur in the next decade will be a 10-fold increase from what we have today.

This energy is then distributed by a pole and line network covering the state. You may be interested in noting the $0.40/kWHr cost; approximately half is in the generation of electricity, and the other half is
wrapped up in maintaining the network. And likely most disturbing is that 50% of the SWIS (Soth West Interconnected System) assets service 3% of the community. That’s those of us living remotely in the
regions. This is why energy providers are looking to see if an energy grid with a distributed energy generation system could be a better fit for the entire community.

Synergy and Western Power are trialing various options, including the obvious but also Hydrogen in Shark Bay, but the one you will be most familiar with is rooftop solar, which currently occupies more than 30% of roofs within WA. It is an excellent example of a distributed energy generation system. Of course, it is not perfect; the sun doesn’t shine 24 hrs, and the wind doesn’t blow all day long either, but it is still a very cheap source of energy with relatively good reliability, at least in Australia.

It is concerning that the network has become so bad in some places that it is cheaper for Western Power to install stand-alone systems for individual regional businesses at large costs. Whilst this system is not
perfect, it provides security for those who have endured significant energy asset decline over time. Western Power has already installed 80 and plans to install a further 50 in 2024. And, of course, you can go
it alone for far cheaper cost with many commercial options entering the marketplace.

So, back to our Kiwi friend Mike Casey and his excellent story. His goal was to have a completely decarbonised farm, which he has achieved. It is the solar/wind/battery system that allows him to do so. But your energy costs aren’t the issue, costing $10-40k for most Planfarm clients. Even if I invest the money and make this saving, so what?

It is a reasonable question and is not where I would focus. I would look to the future and imagine what a fleet of machines with implements I might have. Will I need a 500 HP tractor, or will three smaller vehicles be sufficient? I don’t know the answer to this question, but I do know that ten years ago, I didn’t believe an autonomous vehicle would be successful in our environment. And, of course, they are. So, I am now willing to be completely open-minded about what your tractor and implement requirements might be in the future.

And when I think of it that way, I start to see the possibility of a lot of savings. Specifically, $100-400K in diesel!! Mike tells how he has bought, at a significant cost, fully electric tractors.

These tractors are small, with up to 100 HP, and that is all he needs. He has adapted his production system to manage their current limitations. But the kicker is they have paid for themselves within 7-9 years with fuel and R&M savings. I am sure your 15,000-hour Cat Challenger still purrs like a kitten, and it also owes you nothing. But does it?

I do not know of an electric solution that fits today for the majority of Broadacre farming operations. Horticultural requirements could be quite a different story, especially those with an enhanced energy
requirement for packing sheds and refrigeration etc. But I could easily envisage a nearby and future world where the options do exist for large Hp machinery. The question is, when should you invest?

Perhaps that is too difficult to answer right now, but what is true is that systems have emerged where we can start small and build. Electric power tools, motorbikes or side-by-sides are available, and you can
retrofit a ’90’s Hilux to be fully electric for less than $40K. How many kilometers does your work ute take each day? Perhaps the thing to consider is to start with these relatively simple items and build as your demand grows.

This relatively simplistic view of what the future may look like has flaws, and you need some creativity to see what it might be. We are waiting for the electric farm machinery marketplace to develop, and it will be. Don’t forget that almost 50% of car sales in China this last quarter were EVs. The transport industry has a huge thirst to cut costs (and carbon emissions), and the ag sector will be the beneficiary of this technology development. There are people out there today across the world who are taking charge of getting this right. Is it the edge they need to beat their competitors? And if it is, where will your story reside in that history? So I do love a sunburnt country, a land of sweeping plains. But now, for more than the obvious reason.