
Sustainability may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think about hog farms, but for Arrow Farms in Scotts, Michigan, it is a part of their business model. Jarred Lorenz, Arrow Farms owner and H&H Farms general manager of hog operations, views hog production as the most sustainable protein in the world.
“Sustainability is a huge story for us,” said Jarred Lorenz. “We not only have manure going on the ground, the ground growing corn, corn going into pigs, pigs going into the food chain, and manure going back into the ground, now we put in the energy portion.”
Lorenz and his wife Jenna own Arrow Farms in a fifty-fifty business partnership with Ryan Hunter and his wife Reagan, who are also owners of H&H Farms. Arrow Farms is set up on 100 acres with 60 acres for crops and pastures. It leases buildings and land to H&H Farms to use for its 14,400 pigs.

When Hunter brought up the idea of adding solar panels at Arrow Farm, Lorenz investigated the cost savings and benefits by analyzing the advantages of solar at H&H Farms.
“I saw the benefit they had after a year and a half at H&H Farms and had enough data to support that solar was worth doing for Arrow,” said Lorenz.
Lorenz believes farmers need to lead the charge in installing clean energy systems because there is only a finite amount of fuel available. Lorenz and Hunter used USDA Rural Development Rural Energy for America Program grant funds to help pay for three ground mount solar panel arrays. They placed them in corners of the property that were otherwise unusable and only growing grass.
The three arrays help power multiple barns that are climate controlled year-round to keep the temperature between 64 and 74 degrees. Lorenz estimates the panels cut the farm’s summer electric cost almost in half. The panels also have an added benefit for cows who enjoy the shade created from the arrays next to their pasture.
“Summertime is our biggest pull of energy that we use, and obviously it's also the best sunshine of the year,” shared Lorenz. “However, during the winter, we're probably closer to 65 to 70 percent solar because there's such minimal ventilation running in those nighttime hours.”
Lorenz, who sits on the board of directors for the Michigan Pork Producers Council, shared he hopes to use the extra cashflow created from using solar panels to help expand his business. He also hopes his farm using solar panels can set an example of how clean energy can work for other farmers in his industry.
“Sustainability is what’s kept us alive for generations and generations and I think clean energy is just the way of the future,” shared Lorenz. “People don’t like change. But, if we can prove before it’s forced upon them that this was voluntary and say look at what it did for us, look at what it did for our pigs, and look at what it did for our world and environment, then I think that’s going to be a big thing for us as an industry.”
To learn more about Rural Development loans and grants visit the programs page.