Commissioner of Agriculture John Stulp will be in Walsh, CO, Friday, July 17 to celebrate the unveiling of the first Entegrity 50kW turbine to be erected in Colorado.  This turbine was funded in part by Southeast Colorado Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) through a Department of Agriculture “Advancing Colorado’s Renewable Energy” (ACRE) grant.  The Colorado Department of Agriculture in cooperation with the Colorado Agricultural Value-Added Development Board administers the ACRE program. This program provides funding to promote energy-related projects beneficial to Colorado’s agriculture industry. To learn more, visit www.colorado.gov/ag/energy

  The inaugural event is being hosted by the Baca County Conservation District (BCCD) as part of their Annual Meeting celebration.  Registration will begin at 11:30 a.m. at the Walsh Community Building.  Attendees will caravan to H₂O Farms southeast of Walsh and tour the wind turbine, which is offsetting the energy needs of pumping irrigation water for a center pivot sprinkler.  Commissioner Stulp and farm owner Fred Hefley will make comments at the wind turbine location.

  A barbeque lunch by Kim’s Ribs will be served back at the Community Building. The BCCD Annual Meeting will follow: “Celebrating 71 Years of Conservation Partnerships.”  Partner presentations will include Options for Expiring CRP, and reports from BCCD, RC&D, NRCS, FSA and CSU Extension.

  Renew your BCCD Membership and attend the event free.  Individual membership is $30 and includes one meal ticket.  Family membership is $50 and includes two meal tickets. Business membership is $100, includes two meal tickets and a year’s advertising in the BCCD Newsletter.  All members receive a 10% discount on tree supplies, equipment rental and other items offered by the Conservation District.  Tickets without membership are $15 each.

  RSVP is required as space is limited.  For more information or to RSVP contact Misty George by July 10 at misty.george@co.nacdnet.net or  (719) 523-4522 ext. 3.

Fred and Kay Lynn Hefley’s 50kW Entegrity wind turbine project is moving right along. On April 29th Bob Mailander, Eastern Plains Regional Representative from the Governor’s Energy Office, came by our BCCD office. It just happened to be the day WT Contractors, LLC out of Ulysses was pouring the foundation piers on the ACRE funded turbine. So we took Bob out to see the process.  Below are some pictures of the afternoon.

Three piers are drilled in a triangular pattern for the turbine to be anchored to with guyed wires.  The piers are 30 inches in diameter and 30 feet deep.  The construction company builds a rebar cage to insert in the hole, and then fills it with cement.

Bob Mailander and Fred Hefley look on as the WT Contractors’ crew begins pouring a truck load of cement in one of the pier foundations.

The finished site sits ready for turbine erection.