Renewable Energy Plans Create Tension in the Ag Sector
Stop off in any small town in America and you might hear a conversation between farmers about the price of corn versus the price of sun. It sounds silly, but global carbon emission goals are driving renewable energy farms forward at a fast pace, and volatile crop years are prompting farmers to consider harvesting something other than food. Family farms, sometimes four or five generations strong yet struggling to stay afloat, are caught up in a conflict over how to protect our food supply while staying green and clean; and an even more nuanced discussion of who should regulate the solar and wind energy sectors.
How Much Land is Required for Solar and Wind Power?
Federal goals to be carbon free by 2050 are being called aggressive. And, many individual states have even shorter timelines for ushering in renewable energy projects. An estimated 5 million acres of land is expected to be converted to solar farming alone in the next two decades. Not all of it will be on land used for crops and livestock, but current data shows that agricultural land is being affected by renewable energy endeavors. Governing bodies at the state and local levels are rezoning and issuing new regulations to slow the development of wind and solar farms that want to make use of crop and grazing acres.
Of the 897 million acres of available farmland, 121,600 acres have been converted to renewable energy farms. It doesn’t seem significant, however 64% of solar energy is produced on crop or grazing land rather than on city rooftops or in areas unsuitable for farming or livestock. Similarly, 92% of wind farms sit on agricultural land. Most of the agricultural land in the United States is privately owned. Renewable energy companies can lease the land from farmers to erect their energy infrastructure and still generate a profit.
Currently, solar farms and wind companies pay $1,000 an acre. Farmers can make the same growing an acre of corn or soybeans, but they also have the expenses of fuel, fertilizer and pesticides. For a family farm struggling to make ends or find labor, renewable energy farms offer a solution. The farm stays afloat, expenses are cut considerably, and it can be carried forward another generation. In the case of wind energy, farmers can still produce crops or graze livestock under the windmills and double their income per acre.
In many ways this is a win-win situation. Families can pass on land to the next generation to be used as they see fit. Local economies are infused with additional cash flow. Carbon emissions are reduced and the nation becomes less dependent on non-renewable energy sources. In theory, the farming contracts secure 35-50 years of clean energy; a gift worth passing on to the people of the future.
Are Solar and Wind Farms a Good Use of Our Land?
However, state and local governments have had strong opposition to the pace of renewable energy expansion as well as the places companies choose to install operations. Not all land is farmable land, thus making arable land a precious commodity. Farmland has steadily decreased in acreage over the last decade because of development; a worrisome situation as we look to the future of our food supply. And, one that appears to be even more troubling if renewable energy companies are poised to snatch up small farms and convert them to solar or wind production. In 2021 there were at least 1,800 restrictions placed on wind farm operations and 800 on solar farms across the country. Some of these restrictions stemmed from aesthetic values, but for the most part, they were put in place to make it more difficult for renewable energy companies to utilize agricultural land.
Loss of farmland is a real problem. It gives us fewer places to produce crops. We still grow a lot of crops, but because of economics and other factors, the United States imports a large amount of our produce. There is a growing concern that solar farms built in sunny areas and on agricultural land could make us even more reliant on imported food. It’s a future situation that has governments at the state and local levels taking protective action. On a small scale it's an acceptable scenario, but expanded out over the next 20 years we may be trading one problem for another; we will have less greenhouse gasses and also potentially less food. Farm towns are in no hurry to hand over good soil to energy companies.
To compound it further, if a family can make a living farming wind and sun why would they carry on paying to feed livestock or working in the field? And, when their neighbor realizes they too can downsize their cattle herd and still make just as much with solar panels, they are likely to follow suit. Good farmland might stay perfectly good, but go completely unused; and that is still a problem for food security in the country.
Land loss also comes in the form of land reclamation uncertainty. While some rural families see renewable energy as their best option for survival, others worry that solar panels and wind turbines will ruin agricultural land. It’s fairly easy to convert crop land into renewable energy land, but it may not be so easy to reverse. Earning $1,000 an acre right now sounds good to the individual farmer, but if it means a new toxicity problem down the road rural governments will protect what they have. States would rather say no to renewable energy until they can say a confident yes. And a yes now will be virtually impossible to undo if a contract lasts 50 years.
While 2,600 state regulations speak very loudly against renewable energy, federal government agencies are moving forward with legislation to ensure continued progress. Bigger operations could fall under federal regulations while smaller private leases would continue to adhere to local rules.
Does it Have to Be Renewable Energy or Food?
Wind energy has already progressed. When the option was first presented to landowners 20 years ago they had to dispose of the windmills at the end of the contract and there were more rules and regulations around grazing and farming. Today windmill technology companies are responsible for the removal of the equipment at the end of a lease, cows graze beneath them and crops can be grown under them.
The same will likely be true for the solar energy sector. Right now it’s a lucrative opportunity for landowners, yet it stands to make portions of farmland unusable. But, it won’t be too long until we see alternative methods of solar farming. If the U.S. aims to be supported by renewable energy by 2050 then livestock grazing alongside panels, identifying the right crops to plant under them, floating farms, solar panel buildings in urban areas, and careful identification of degraded land that would be best suited for solar farms will be part of the growth process. There isn’t a one size fits all solution.
Can we identify the best uses for an area of land and can environmental causes ally themselves to agriculture? If there is a “right” way, it is sure to be found through more collaboration and the federal and state levels and between agriculture and environmental sectors.
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