Rolling Prairie, IN—Today, Congressman Joe Donnelly visited Bernard Baltes Farm to announce that Mr. Bernard Baltes, the owner of the farm, received a Rural Energy for America Program Grant for $13,313 from the United States Department of Agriculture.  The Rural Energy for America Program assists farmers, ranchers and rural small businesses in developing renewable energy systems and in making energy-efficiency improvements to their operations. Mr. Baltes used the grant money to replace a grain dryer.

“Investing in our rural infrastructure will not only allow us to become more energy efficient, but it will also help save our farmers money on their energy bills,” Donnelly said. “I am pleased that, as a result of this grant money, Mr. Baltes was able to purchase a new, energy efficient grain dryer.”

“Recently, we learned that a new grain dryer was available, and the USDA grant made it a whole lot easier to purchase,” said Mr. Baltes. “From what we’ve been told from other people who have the same grain dryer, it uses about 30 percent less energy to dry grain. This was a deciding factor as to why we went with this dyer.”

###