For Farmers Wind means $

It’s the difference between being able to stay on the land, and pass along a way of life to children and grandchildren, or having to sell out to developers and take a job in town.

For struggling rural communities, it’s an alternative development model that breaths new life into local services and schools. Here in the midwest, where, for the last 20 years, the biggest idea for “development’ in rural areas has been prisons – it’s time to move on.

Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier (Iowa): 

WATERLOO, Iowa — Of the 480 acres Tim Hemphill owns and 1,200 he farms near Milford, he sets aside three for two wind-turbine towers.

In exchange for the small plot of land Hemphill would have devoted to his corn and soybean products, he collects $20,000 a year.

“It’s worth it, even with high grain prices,” Hemphill said. “When we put them up, corn was around $3 a bushel, and it has doubled since then, but it’s still worth it.”

“The check’s always good,” he said.

Hemphills’s towers have been up for two years, and the checks will flow in quarterly for the run of a 30-year contract, he said.

Hemphill said he is but one of an increasing number of Iowa farmers who have watched wind towers go up on their acreages.

“There’s quite a few farmers I know who have them,” he said. “My neighbor has six of them and another with seven.”

Hemphill said his motivation transcends finances, although he acknowledges the income certainly doesn’t hurt.

“I think we need more green energy,” he said. “People in California and the cities have brownouts. Besides, it’s a good revenue source.”

See special Waterloo Courier section on wind energy here.