Consumers are demanding reduced carbon emissions and increased sustainability within food production systems. However, fossil energy consumption data within dairy production are scarce. Therefore, the objective of this study was to measure electricity use to determine areas of high consumption in commercial dairies. Data were collected from freestall barns representative of typical Midwest dairies and located in west central Minnesota: one 9,500 head, cross-ventilated barn with a rotary parlor (A), one 300 head, naturally-ventilated barn with stirring fans and an automatic milking system (B), one 200 head, naturally-ventilated barn with stirring fans and a parabone parlor (C), and one 400 head, naturally-ventilated barn with stirring fans and a parallel parlor (D). Electricity was monitored from July 2018 to January 2019. Electric loads were monitored on the farm side of the electric meter at the circuits to reveal areas of highest usage. Electrical use was calculated on an electrical load basis (Table 1). Despite barn design and capacity differences, ventilation was the largest user of electricity across farms A, B, and C. Ventilation use ranged from 17% to 41% of total electricity used across all farms. Other large electric loads varied across the farms. Electricity for lighting ranged from 7 to 20% of total electricity. Manure handling ranged from 0 to 24% of total electricity. Milk cooling components ranged from 5 to 21% of total electricity. Approximately 14% of the electricity in the automatic dairy was used to operate the automatic milking system. Improving the efficiency of electrical components could provide opportunities to improve the carbon footprint of dairy production systems. Table 1 (Abstr. 485). Percent of total electricity used by various loads on each farm

	Farm
A	B	C	D
Mean kWh per month	650,615	30,613	9,774	26,399
Electricity use, % of total kWh1
Ventilation, %	41.0	27.0	20.0	17.0
Lights, %	14.0	7.0	11.0	20.0
Manure handling, %	10.0	1.0	0.0	24.0
Milk cooling, %	5.0	21.0	14.0	19.0
Automatic milking system, %	NA2	14.0	NA	NA

¹Includes the highest consuming electrical loads on each farm. ²Not applicable.