As the demand for alternative forms of energy continues to increase across the nation, American farmers are discovering a new ‘crop.’ All across America, farmers are now harvesting wind energy and reaping the rewards.
As of today, wind power is the fastest growing form of alternative energy in the world. Between 1998 and 2002, wind power grew at an average rate of 32%!  According to a study by the Department of Energy (DOE), since 1980 the cost of producing electricity using wind power has dropped as much as 90% as turbines have become more efficient and less expensive. If current trends continue, wind power will be less expensive than electricity from conventional power plants by the year 2010.
The ‘Wind Powering America’ initiative, sponsored by the DOE, hopes to produce 5% of America’s electricity with wind by 2020. To do this, the DOE will be providing $60 billion in investment capital to rural locations across America. Of this capital fund, $1.2 billion will go to farmers and other rural landowners to help establish wind farms across the United States.
There are three basic methods that a potential wind farmer may use to generate income from farming the wind. The first and easiest is to allow a developer to install a large wind turbine on the property. This requires no up-front costs to the wind farmer, and can generate royalties of up to $5000 per year, per turbine, depending on the size of the generator.
The second basic method is to connect your wind turbine to the grid. In this arrangement, you can either check with the local utility company to see if they’ll help you pay for the turbine, or you can finance the turbine yourself. Federal law then requires that the power company buy any surplus electricity from you.
The third method is to buy the turbine yourself, then sell the electricity generated to the highest bidder. The end user in this case doesn’t have to be a power company. You could sell your power to factories, to homes, or to rural subdivisions.

The best part about wind farming is that even large turbines have small footprints. This means that you may still use the bulk of your farmland for growing crops, while supplementing your income by harvesting energy from the wind!
If you would like to learn more about wind energy in general, visit the American Wind Energy Association at: http://www.awea.org. You may download a fact sheet about wind energy from the Union of Concerned Scientists at: http://www.uscusa.org/assets/documents/clean_energy/Agfs_wind_2003.pdf.
You may learn more about farming the wind at: http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/renewable_energy_basics/farming-the-wind-wind-power-and-agriculture.html.

Chuck Hall is a graduate student and author. His latest book, Green Circles: A Sustainable Journey from the Cradle to the Grave, is now available at the Culture Artist Web site at www.cultureartist.org. You may contact Chuck by email at: chuck@cultureartist.org.