Morning Glory Farm of Edgartown has received a $50,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture which owners Jim and Debbie Athearn plan to use to install a 50-kilowatt wind turbine. Morning Glory is one of 14 farms statewide to share a total of $730,177 in federal grants for energy efficiency and renewable energy projects, the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources announced this week.

“We are always looking for ways to reduce expenses,” Mr. Athearn said yesterday. “The expenses are staggering. It costs over $20,000 a year to pay our electricity.” He said most of the costs are tied to the farm’s three walk-in coolers and four greenhouses. “Home-grown electricity could convert some of our oil or gas to electric floor heating,” Mr. Athearn said.

The wind turbine will cost $200,000 and will be installed near the farm compost area by local contractor Gary Harcourt. Mr. Athearn has applied for a second grant from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative which would cover an additional 50 per cent of the cost. He will pay the remaining amount himself. He hopes to have the turbine installed by late winter or early spring and anticipates that it will pay for more than half of the farm electricity bill.

“It’s always a tight squeak producing food for less than you have to sell it for. You have to keep looking for ways to reduce costs, which farmers all over do all the time,” Mr. Athearn said. “We also need to reduce the cost of the diesel fuel that goes into tractors, but this won’t do that.”