Across the United States, farmers are finding financial stability by allowing wind turbines to be built on their land, according to USA TODAY. Wind turbine leases generally last 30 to 40 years, providing an extra annual income for the landowners. They can earn anywhere between $3,000 and $7,000 for each turbine.
“The turbines make up for the (crop) export issues we’ve been facing,” said Tom Cunningham, a farmer with three turbines on his land in Cloud County, Kansas. American farmers have been facing increasingly worse financial situations, according to USA TODAY, and wind turbine leases help make up for economic dips.
U.S. farm bankruptcy rates jumped 20% in 2019, to an eight-year high, according to USA TODAY. For many farmers, the embrace of wind power is more about the extra income, and less about an interest in clean energy.
“It’s not so much about green energy at all, but economics,” said Kerri Johannsen, energy program director with the Iowa Environmental Council.