Selected electrical system characteristics of Grade A dairy farms in Tennessee

Expansion in the size of electrical service equipment and distribution facilities on farms has increased at a phenomenal rate in the past decade. This expansion has been brought on by the need for improved mechanical production efficiency as a substitute for human labor and the general influences of the revolution of automation and mechanization that have occurred. The basic information on which to base procedures for adequate and efficient design of these farmstead wiring and distribution facilities is obviously lacking. There is a need for more accurate and up-to-date analyses of actual conditions that exist in the electric wiring systems of farms.

The major factors in planning farmstead wiring components are safety, adequacy, and efficiency. Existing state and national wiring codes set forth the standards for safety for such electrical installations (4,8). Adequacy and efficiency concern the use of equipment and facilities that provide satisfactory service in a manner consistent with economic feasibility.

This study concerned itself with the basic factors that showed actual conditions of voltage, current, and power that existed on farms. These recorded conditions were analyzed in various relationships to actual wiring and distribution equipment in use on these same farms.