The Yunlin County Government last week announced measures to encourage the solar power industry to help poultry farmers construct enclosed, solar-paneled poultry houses amid the ongoing bird flu crisis to lessen farmers’ financial burden.
The Council of Agriculture announced in June that farms affected by avian flu could only resume poultry farming after enclosing their facilities to reduce exposure to viruses and migratory birds.
As of June next year, all land fowl must be housed in enclosed or non-open facilities to prevent avian flu outbreaks.
However, such facilities cost about NT$11,000 to NT$15,000 (US$333 to US$454) per ping (3.3m2), which is financially draining for farmers, the county government said.
To assist farmers, the county government has initiated a program to enable cooperation between solar power companies and poultry farms to build solar-paneled poultry houses that could produce more than 30MW of electricity.
Electricity generated by the poultry houses could be sold direct to Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) at NT$5 per kW without a bidding process, which is higher than the prices agreed by normal solar bids, the county government said.
Under the program, a solar power company and a poultry farm should sign a 20-year contract. The two parties could cooperate by building solar-paneled poultry houses and collect the revenue of the electricity sales until the seventh year, when the company pays the farm owner 3 percent of the revenue.
Alternatively, farmers could share the building costs and profits of the solar-paneled facility with power companies, the county government said.
The county government said that 402 farms were affected by avian flu outbreaks this year and 85 percent of them would benefit from the program.
The program is the first in the nation to combine the solar power industry and poultry farming, and was approved by the central government last month, the county government said, adding that the long daylight hours in the county are advantageous to the development of the business.
Separately, the council has also agreed to the Taitung County Government’s proposal to relax the poultry house regulations in the county to allow free-range farming to continue.
Most of the nation’s free-range chickens are supplied by Taitung and the free-range chickens, by definition, can only be raised in an open environment. It is practically impossible to enclose farms that are larger than one hectare, the county government said.
The council consented to Taitung poultry farmer’s requests to enclose only feeding areas and poultry houses, while leaving the roaming areas unchanged, the county government said.
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