Wind and Agriculture

Agricultural lands in New York are ripe for generating and utilizing renewable energy resources. With net farm income decreasing in recent years, farmers and others in the agricultural community are taking a serious look at how wind energy can become their new cash crop.

Farmers can lease land to wind developers, use the wind to generate on-site power for meeting their farm's energy needs, or can become wind power producers themselves. The agricultural community can benefit from wind power's economic, energy, and environmental attributes in a number of ways.

• Wind energy provides an additional source of income for rural communities, benefiting county and local services including schools, health care facilities, and roads.

• Landowners with wind development on their property can receive on average $2,000 - $5,000 per turbine per year, depending on its size.
  

• Wind energy helps us to conserve water in arid areas or in times of drought. To generate the same amount of electricity as a single 1.5 MW wind turbine, a fossil fuel or nuclear power plant would have to withdraw about 90 million gallons of water a year from rivers or aquifiers.

• Turbines do not take up much land. They typically use less than half an acre, including access roads, and farmers can grow crops and graze livestock right up to the base of the turbine. Turbines do not interfere with the daily operations of farms.

• Homegrown energy helps makes the U.S. more secure and independent.

• Farmers with on-site generation can "net meter" the energy they produce, meaning they can receive credits on their utility bill when they produce more energy than they use.