WOODSTOCK -- Energy is becoming the hot new crop on Canadian farms.

As the 14th annual Canada Outdoor Farm Show wrapped up yesterday, farmers got a look at the new Sustainable Energy Expo sponsored by Toyota Canada Inc.

They learned about technology that can turn their farms into mini-power plants by harnessing wind and solar energy -- even the warmth of their farm pond or the soil under their feet.

- With blades that look more like an egg beater than a traditional propeller, vertical axis wind turbines are a new innovation in wind power.

Virtually silent, they can generate 3,500 watts of power. Mounted on roofs or 15-metre-high poles, they can easily fit into farm yards or urban environments.

"Someday we would like to see one beside every Tim Hortons," said Rene Dam of Ancaster-based Cleanfield Energy.

- Any deep farm pond can serve as a furnace or air conditioner.

Brant-Oxford Geothermal installed about 30 metres of plastic piping into the pond behind their booth at the farm show.

The pipes, filled with water and ethanol, can transfer the low temperatures of the pond water in summer or the warmth in winter.

"If the pond is big enough, it can serve 100 per cent of the heating or cooling needs of your house, " said Dennis Zapototsky of GeoSmart Energy.

If a pond isn't available, the geothermal units can work in farm wells or though holes drilled deep into the ground.

- When you've got a big barn, why not put up a big solar power panel -- especially when the provincial government will pay you 42 cents a kilowatt for the power it produces under the alternative energy program?

"You're offsetting your bill and if you install enough systems, you can cancel your hydro bill," said Jim Crawford of Sun Volts Unlimited, which has an office in London on Hamilton Road.

Don McCabe, an executive member of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, said farmers are ready to embrace alternative energy and conservation practices. But he said the right government policies have to be in place if farmers are going to create a "closed-loop environmental system."

"We're going to feed you, clothe you and at the end of the day we are going to have a better environment," McCabe said.