INDIANOLA, Iowa (DTN) -- Slogging through a wet field with your combine is no fun. Having to wait for your dryer before you can continue harvesting is downright frustrating. If you are looking to upgrade your grain drying facilities, USDA is making $99 million available in grants and loans for fiscal year 2010 to install renewable energy and energy-efficient projects (such as grain dryers) on farms, according to figures provided by Teresa Baumhoff with the USDA Rural Development program in Iowa.

Payback on more energy-efficient dryers can be substantial even if you self-finance. In farm energy auditsconducted by Purdue University ...