Wind Energy Helping Farmers Profitability

Wind Energy Helping Farmers Profitability

In recent years a burst of new wind energy development has occurred, mostly in rural areas across the U.S. where wind resources are strongest. David Day and his family have raised cattle and feed from their ranch in North Dakota since before it was a state. Given the legacy of his ranch, he explains how the farmers before him would feel about bringing wind energy to the ranch
Day: “Before electricity came to this part of the country back in the 50s, we’ve always had an extensive cattle ranch here. We pumped many many thousands of gallons with windmills. When I was a kid growing up, we had dozen of them on the ranch. Now when electricity coming through and it got cheaper to run power lines over. For a while they’d run a power line to hook up and you’d pay a minimum charge a year to pump water. So that made it much easier for us. So we’ve always seen wind mills per say on the prairie. But now understandably these are a lot bigger. Our family has always been progressive. We use to have a wind charger in the front yard, before the REA came through. I think my forefathers would be very happy with how everything has progressed.”
Wind energy coming to a community helps farm and ranch families stay on the land. According to the American Wind Energy Association, as of September 2014, Colorado ranked tenth for wind power capacity with 2,332 megawatts installed. For more information about the American Wind Energy Association, visit AWEA.org
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