2018 Spring Farm

Page 28 March 22, 2018 2018 Logan County Farm Outlook Magazine LINCOLN DAILY NEWS The site for the upcoming Sugar Creek Wind Farm project does not provide exact amounts, but says, “The project is expected to inject millions of dollars into Logan County’s economy to support local merchants, contractors, and equipment suppliers.” The placement of a turbine requires about one-and-a-half acres. There is also a slight loss for access roads and temporary reduction in production due to compaction and drier soils close to the large deep concrete base necessary for each turbine. Yet, agricultural operations can continue in the surrounding area. Using the above figure, the estimated losses of acreage would be 100.5 acres for Rail Splitter’s 67 turbines, a projected 115.5 acres for Sugar Creek’s 77 turbines, and a projected figure of 111 acres for HillTopper’s 74 turbines. Terminologies such as ‘farming wind power’ ‘harvesting the sun’s energy’ and other verbiage spins have been introduced in recent years to persuade public opinion at weighing land use; whether to continue as agricultural use or if it is better used for renewable energy production. Value to the farmer/land owner Landowners are compensated for the use of land. Birchby has said, “Over the project life, the total payment to participating landowners will be around $25 M, and for non-participating landowners payments will be around $4 M.” Value in clean energy production Energy converted by the three wind farms would produce up to 500 megawatts electricity, enough to power 175,000 homes. Expanded employment The above wind farm projects provide hundreds of temporary construction jobs and approximately a combined 25 full-time jobs once in operational phase. These figures pose some strong positive impacts, but potentially negative impacts need to be considered. One possible downside is that taxpayers may bear the burden of subsidies. Additionally, there has been debate over whether wind resource development is the most profitable use of the land. The United States’ Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy says, “The cost-competitiveness of wind power is highly debatable. Both utility- scale wind farms and small residential wind turbines typically rely heavily on financial incentives. This is to give wind power a fair chance in the fierce competition against already well-established energy sources such as fossil fuels and coal.” The impact on farmland has been debated. Though some studies claim turbines get more carbon dioxide to crops, others claim it may damage crops and lower crop yields. In Continue 8