Sunny side is looking up for power price-weary egg farmers

The sting of more frequent summer heatwaves combined with a decade of federal government fumbling on energy policy is driving Australia's egg producers to become some of the nation's most serious supporters of solar power. The industry - one of farming's biggest and most consistent electricity users - also sees marketing advantages with egg consumers as it swings to cheaper, off-grid electricity and a goal of becoming genuinely carbon neutral. After almost a three-fold jump in electricity costs in a decade, major egg farm enterprises housing about 60 per cent of the Australian layer flock have adopted farm solar initiatives on a big scale. Most of the largest egg producer enterprises - some with up to 5 million hens - now rely on the sun for a big portion of their huge energy needs according to peak industry organisation Australian Eggs. With recent improvements in solar panel efficiency and more competitive installation costs, more mid-sized and smaller scale family ventures are ...