Iran War Pushes New England Farms Toward Clean Energy

Connecticut farms are getting squeezed on both sides. Fuel costs are running near historic highs as the conflict in Iran keeps oil markets unsettled, and food prices have already pushed many consumers to their limit.

Lars Demander felt that pressure early. Demander is the eighth generation to run Clover Nook Farm in Bethany, and a few years ago he invested in heat pumps and solar panels, bringing his monthly energy bill close to $0. “Energy costs only go one direction, so might as well eliminate it now,” he told CT Mirror. “It’s only going to cost more a year from now.”

That math is becoming harder for Connecticut farmers to ignore.

The Cost Problem Has No Easy Fix

Seth Bahler runs Oakridge Dairy in Ellington. About 10 years ago, he had 750 solar panels installed on his barn, producing 250 kilowatts of power. The panels cut the farm’s electric bill by $8,000 to $10,000 a month. That sounds like real money until you hear what Bahler pays in summer, when fans run around the clock to keep his cows cool. His electric bill can hit $100,000 a month in those months. He’s now looking to add more panels to offset the farm’s entire electric load, but the economics of dairy farming leave little room for capital investment. “It’s really hard with energy costs as high as they are,” Bahler said. “We don’t have a ton of extra money for anything.”

Farmers across New England are dealing with a double bind that most other businesses don’t face. They need fuel and fertilizer to get crops into the ground, both of which track closely with oil prices. They can’t easily pass those costs to customers the way a restaurant raises menu prices or a retailer marks up inventory.

Baylee Drown, who farms in Lyme, found that out firsthand. Drown started selling heirloom tomatoes at $5 a pound and held that price for 13 years before raising it to $6. A 20% increase over 13 years is barely a rounding error by any inflation measure. Customers still complained. Drown is now pursuing solar panels at the farm but recently ran into trouble with the federal grant program known as REAP, the Rural Energy for America Program, which has faced funding uncertainty.

Grants Are There. Getting Them Is Another Matter.

Amanda Fargo-Johnson, the Agricultural Programs Director for Connecticut Resource Conservation and Development, works with farmers trying to navigate those grant programs. Her organization helps farmers apply for renewable energy funding, and she’s direct about what drives the decisions these farmers make. “Farms are business people first and I think people kind of forget that,” Fargo-Johnson said. “They need to be financially stable or they’re not going to stay in business.”

That framing matters for anyone who thinks the renewable energy push on Connecticut farms is primarily environmental. It’s not. It’s financial survival. The Connecticut Department of Agriculture tracks the number of active farms in the state, and that number has been shrinking for decades. Rising input costs accelerate the attrition. Farmers who can cut their energy bills are farmers who can stay open.

The USDA’s REAP program, which provides grants and loan guarantees for renewable energy systems on agricultural operations, has historically covered up to 50% of project costs. Uncertainty around that funding has left some Connecticut farmers in a difficult position mid-project.

What’s Happening at the State Level

Connecticut has its own incentive programs, and the General Assembly has considered measures that would expand renewable energy support for agricultural operations. Whether the state steps up to fill any gap left by federal funding cuts is a question that Fargo-Johnson’s organization and others in the farm advocacy community are watching closely this session.

For Demander in Bethany, the decision to go renewable came before the Iran conflict started pushing fuel prices higher, and the timing turned out to be fortunate. He feeds his cows, calls them “boss” as his grandfather did, and pays almost nothing to keep the lights on and the equipment running. His farm represents what Connecticut agriculture could look like if more operations can get over the upfront cost barrier, which for many family farms is the central obstacle.

The General Assembly reconvenes in May, and several energy and agriculture funding bills are still moving through committee. Farmers watching those bills say the urgency is real and the window for action is short.