Sunny future at Distant View Farms

MONONA, Iowa — With electrical expenses on the rise, Distant View Farms looked for a way to offset the increasing cost. The owners took a leap, installing solar panels at four locations on their farm.

“Every month our electric bills came, and it was just shocking how much we were paying in electricity,” Ann Deering said. “Those bills kept coming and we knew that if we were going to keep running as is, the solar panels would be a good investment.”

Deering farms with her husband, Koal; her brother, Mike Johanningmeier and his wife, Lori; and her parents, Steve and Jane Johanningmeier. Steve and Jane established Distant View Farms near Monona in 1971. Today, the family milks 500 cows in a double-12 parallel parlor. Distant View Farms also works with beef cattle and crops, but their latest venture into solar has helped the farm become more efficient in its current practices.

“It seemed like every year, we’d get the letters saying that electrical rates were increasing,” Deering said. “This past year was our tipping point, with rates going up again.”

Distant View Farms decided to pull the plug on conventional electric and dive into solar. They worked with Perry Novak Electric in Decorah to set up four locations around their farm.

“We had done our research on the installation in the past,” Deering said. “We had considered it more than once but never went for it. This past year we decided to go for it, and it has been working out very well.”

Perry Novak Electric and Distant View Farms worked together to see where the farm could cut its conventional electrical consumption. After diagnosing locations best suited for solar panels, Perry Novak Electric designed the layouts and worked with local electrical cooperatives to set up the farm’s more efficient practices.

Distant View Farms installed solar panels of varying sizes at four locations: the calf raising facility, the main dairy, the feed lot for heifers and steers, and at the grain bin location. Along with the panels, inverters were installed to make solar energy usable.

When the sun’s rays hit the solar panels, they create direct current electricity. The inverters convert the direct current electricity to alternate current, making it usable in the electrical circuits on the farm.

The solar panel setups vary in size, ranging from 11 kilowatts at the feed lot to 220 kilowatts at the main dairy. Transformers at the dairy were also updated to help handle the new electrical output at the farm. Installation started in October 2024 and by December, Distant View Farms began harnessing the power of the sun to make their operation tick.

“At this point, it’s made good economic sense,” Deering said. “Any investment that you make, you’re going to have long-term payback. But this one is almost guaranteed payback in the short amount of time we’ve had it, and it’s not requiring any extra labor from us. Since the panels have been installed, they’ve been working exactly how they’re designed to, and it’s cut our expenses significantly.”

Of those expenses, Deering and the other partners of Distant View Farms have seen average savings of 83% on the electrical costs at the four locations. Effectiveness varies by location, with the grain bin location seeing a 98% savings, the main dairy at 56%, the feed lot at 83% and the calf barn saving 93%.

The main dairy is an on-demand location, resulting in a premium on electricity.

“We looked to cover 65% of costs with our main dairy solar panels,” Deering said. “We’re still working towards cutting that cost. There’s one time in the day that the main dairy needs a surge of electricity, and we haven’t navigated our way around that yet. But the panels have definitely helped us cut our costs.”

Thanks to tax incentives and depreciation savings, Distant View Farms expects to pay off its renewable energy system within seven years. Long-term warranties on labor, inverters and the panels themselves help reinforce that projection. 

“Our decision has resulted in significant savings on our monthly electric bills as well as contributing to a healthier environment,” Deering said. “My dad has always encouraged us to find new ways to practice conservation.”

The installation was intimidating at first, Deering said, but savings started as quickly as the flip of a switch.

“It’s a lot to wrap your brain around when you first look into it,” Deering said. “We took our time and didn’t do it right away. A few years later, we brought it back to the table and really looked at it again. Once we decided to do it, we really took our time determining what the best way to do it was and what was affordable. It’s made a big difference for us already.”