Local Vermont Custom Feed Store Goes Solar

The four-acre field with a 500kW solar array, located one mile from their Barnet mill now joins Morrison’s Feed total solar at the feed store in St. Johnsbury, Vermont. (Images: Norwich Solar).

Ajah Tier

Morrison’s Custom Feeds is a leading feed processor and provider in New England with a processing mill and feed distribution facility in Barnet, VT. The Morrisons are a fifth-generation agricultural family that has been operating the mill for the last 30 years. The Morrison family also owns and operates Morrison’s Feed Bag retail store in St Johnsbury, VT.

Since Morrison’s Custom Feeds is a major player in the local organic feed industry, they were looking for ways to bring more local, clean electricity onto the grid and reduce their operating costs to keep their products affordable for years to come.

The Morrisons purchased a four-acre field one mile from their Barnet mill that had not been viable for other uses. However, discussions with Norwich Solar identified this as a potential site for a 500 kW AC ground mounted solar array– large enough to produce about the same amount of electricity as consumed at the Barnet mill & office. The Morrisons worked with Norwich Solar to design, permit, engineer, and construct their first solar project in 2020.

“This was my second opportunity to work with the Morrisons, a great Vermont family agricultural company.” says Norwich Solar staff engineer Nathan Billings “Their commitment to renewables and their community align perfectly with our missions of bringing local power, local products, and local jobs to Vermont.”

To help fund the projects, Morrison’s Custom Feed was able to win a REAP grant from USDA, while also taking advantage of state and federal investment tax credits.

Earl Morrison, Plant Manager, monitors the solar array production from his phone and states that “the site has been up and running for about 12 months now and we are very happy with Norwich Solar’s help throughout the whole process.”

Ajah Tier is Norwich Solar Marketing Coordinator. Contact her at tier@norwichsolar.com.