The meter is running back-wards!” was the enthusiastic email Dallas Gilbert sent out to the on-farm wind project partners October 8^th. His Skystream 1.8kW wind turbine installation was complete, and Dallas was fulfilling a long standing ambition to generate his own electricity for his heritage poultry farm, Eastern Plains Natural Food Co-op.

  Located 10 miles south of Bennett, Dallas started his farm back in the 80’s. He raises several breeds of heritage chickens, Khaki Campbell ducks, Pilgrim geese and Blue Slate turkeys. In fact he has largest flock of this rare heritage Blue Slate turkey in the United States. The chickens and ducks are primarily for egg production.  Dallas says some of his customers have allergies to chicken eggs, but can eat the duck eggs without a problem.

  His company sells both to retail consumers, as well as to restaurants and other natural food retailers.  Dallas’ farm is APA certified, and he raises his birds on a completely vegetarian diet, free-range, without the use of antibiotics or hormones.  He goes the extra step of having the turkey’s chemically free processed by air chilling.  Dallas raises between 300-500 market turkeys each year, which are being processed as you read this in preparation for Thanksgiving, as they are each year. 

  On October 29^th Commissioner of Agriculture John Stulp and project partners toured this first “ACRE grant” wind turbine erected on the Eastern Plains. The Colorado Department of Agriculture’s Advancing Colorado’s Renewable Energy (ACRE) grant program provides funding to promote energy-related projects which benefit the agriculture industry. Dallas’ turbine will offset the energy cost on his farm, generating about one-third of his energy needs each year. This is the first of five turbines to be erected throughout Eastern Colorado to demonstrate the applicability of small-scale turbines for agriculture uses. Commissioner Stulp congratulated