Wyoming goat farm, brewery recipients of USDA energy grants 

CHEYENNE (AP) — A brewery and a goat farm are among the Wyoming recipients of grants to encourage renewable energy and energy efficiency, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Monday.

Ten businesses in Wyoming will share $356,000 in grants through the USDA’s Rural Energy for America Program. That’s out of more than $11 million in grants and $43 million in loan guarantees through the program nationwide.

The program has helped some 15,000 farmers, ranchers and small businesses since 2009. More than 820 projects nationwide got funding this year.

This year’s Wyoming recipients include Bitter Creek Brewing in Rock Springs, which got a $4,200 grant to make its building more energy efficient. Goat farm Big Horn Basin Boers in Manderson is getting almost $14,000 to buy and install solar power.

Other grant recipients in Wyoming include:

— Blair’s Market grocery store in Greybull, $197,000 to install more efficient lights;

— Shell Lodge Event and Adventure Company in Shell, $17,000 for a solar system;

— Woody’s Food Center grocery store in Newcastle, $20,000 for lighting efficiency improvements.

“These investments in clean energy are good for the environment, are good for each business’s bottom line and they support the broader rural economy by encouraging the production of renewable energy sources,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a news release.