10/09/2026
An energy audit has identified where a Pembrokeshire dairy farm could make savings to electricity costs worth thousands of pounds a year, and the business is already acting on that advice.
Dairy farms like Tierson Farm have a substantial demand for electricity but many use more than they need to and pay unnecessarily high tariffs.
Derrick and Delana Davies, who farm the holding near Tiers Cross, recognised that an energy audit would be a good first step to working out how their system could be more energy efficient.
The prompt that incentivised them into taking that leap was access to Welsh Government funding through the Farming Connect Advisory Service.
“The availability of the funding was very helpful in us making the decision to proceed with the audit,” says Derrick.
That funding secured a visit from NFU Energy auditor Roger Stones who carried out a comprehensive assessment of the entire system at Tierson Farm.
Roger produced a bespoke report that offered solutions on how the farm could make energy savings.
At Tierson, he identified savings worth more than £4,000 a year and over 16,000 kWh of energy use that was avoidable.
Opportunities ranged from no-cost and low-cost changes to targeted investment in cooling, heating and mechanical systems, with practical payback potential.
Roger’s audit also suggested ways the Davies’ could increase the value of the farm's solar generation, improve monitoring and control, and reduce the amount of electricity imported from the grid.
One of the quickest wins for them would be to install variable speed drives to the vacuum pumps in their milking parlour.
A vacuum pump is one of the biggest consumers of energy on a dairy farm – installing a variable speed milk pump would ensure a slower and more consistent flow of warm milk through a plate pre-cooler, exposing it to cold water for longer, maximising the exchange of heat.
This is more effective than a stop-start process and reduces the load on the refrigeration system.
The NFU Energy team also offered advice on how the business could get the best deal from its energy contract and, consequently, it has already switched energy provider.
Derrick says having an independent and knowledgeable professional to examine the specific needs of the farm situation was extremely useful.
“It was very helpful to have an independent assessment and understand how to better control energy costs moving forward,” he says.
He urged others to harness that benefit by tapping into the support offered by Farming Connect.
“The audit gave us a better understanding of where energy was being used across the farm,” he says.
Being more energy-efficient goes hand-in-hand with reducing carbon - audits are increasingly being used by milk processors to help deliver net-zero targets across their supply chains.
In addition to making funding available for an energy audit, Farming Connect will this autumn host ‘one-to-one’ surgeries to enable farmers registered with Farming Connect to get specialist advice on energy efficiency and renewable energy.
Help is also available on these topics through Farming Connect’s mentoring service and e-learning programme.
As well as an energy auditor, through Farming Connect, NFU Energy can undertake a renewable feasibility study.
From information and data, a farmer provides it with, NFU Energy analyses and produces a report explaining what size renewable energy systems would be the most suitable, listing the pros, cons and risks as well as financial benefits such as return on investment, potential income, and savings.
The Farming Connect programme also includes access to a carbon foot printing assessment by NFU Energy to calculate a farm’s emissions to prepare it for compliance on future regulations.