The charging station is free during the farm’s business hours of 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
“We installed the charging station for the convenience of our customers. Many of them drive one to three hours to visit us,” said President David Smith.
Smith said many people come to the farm, one of Ohio’s largest indoor fish hatcheries, for its market, which features a wide selection of seafood, local specialty food products, wines and beers, as well as fountains, fish to stock ponds, aquatic animal displays, sturgeon petting zoo, a chance to feed trout and the wildflowers.
“Since our beginning in 1986, we’ve been big proponents of innovation in aquaculture and eco-friendly technology,” Smith said.
The farm conserves water with a recirculating aquaculture system designed by Smith, and grows trout and other fish with sustainable plant-based feeds.
Other charging stations in Champaign County are at: White’s Ford, 1246 N. Main St. in Urbana, and Ohio Caverns, 2210 State Route 245 East in West Liberty.
Smith said next on the farm’s “green technology agenda” is to install solar panels on the south-facing roofs of its buildings to generate an estimated 80% of the farm’s electrical needs.
“Eventually, we plan to add more solar panels that will meet or exceed our total electrical usage, and the day may come when we’ll have storage batteries to back up our essential systems during power failures, without having to use gasoline-powered generators,” he said.
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