Faced with rising energy costs, flood and drought challenges, tariffs, and fluctuating prices for crops and livestock, many innovative farmers are partnering with renewable energy developers. They've found that the yearly income generated by these partnerships can help keep a farm running for years. Wind, solar and biomass are all becoming common ways that farmers are reducing energy costs and supplementing the income from normal farming operations.

Wind energy
Wind power is nothing new for the U.S. farming industry. Up until the middle of the last century, it was widely used to pump water and grind grain into flour. The practice fell out of favor as lower cost electricity made it to rural areas, but now, with farmers struggling to make ends meet, they're once again harnessing wind energy. This time around, they're turning it into a new revenue stream by allowing developers to erect wind farms on their land.
The Meridian Way and Elk River wind farms in Kansas are prime examples of how wind can benefit a farming community. The two areas have nearly 170 turbines spread out over dozens of active farms — each wind turbine needs about a quarter of an acre of land. With wind turbine lease payments to Kansas farmers alone topping $15 million to$20 million a year, it's easy to see how the extra cash flow can help make up shortfalls.

Agrivoltaics
Solar in agriculture, or agrivoltaics, has a variety of applications. Depending on the number of panels on your property, solar can power water heaters and pumps, lights in farm buildings, and even electric fences. You can also go into partnership with a solar developer and host a large solar farm on your land. Developers find farmland attractive because it doesn't require as much grading as land that hasn't been tilled. In return, you get reduced electricity costs, adiversified revenue stream, and the ability to still farm the land.

Recent research has found that many crops thrive when planted beneath elevated solar panels. While the yields aren't as great, the economics of a decreased yield and increased revenue from the solar array works out to the farmer's benefit.

Since harvesting equipment can't be used under panels, you'll have to consider which kinds of crops to plant. For aging plants and grasses do well, and since the panels don't seem to disrupt farm animals from grazing, a solar field may a great addition to your farm if you're raising animals. In fact, rather than bringing in an army of lawn mowers to keep their solar farms maintained, many developers are bringing in sheep. If you have the sheep, why not bring the array to them? Any number of grazing animals can keep the solar fields neat and tidy, including chickens and cows.

Biomass energy
Biomass energy is also a great opportunity to add a renewable energy income stream to your operations, especially if your location is not well suited for wind or solar. Oilseed crops like canola, sunflowers, and camelina can be harvested for biofuels. Biomass pellets, which are produced by grasses like switch grasses, can also diversify your farm. The demand for biomass energy is projected to increase as the world searches for alternatives to fossil fuels.
If you're looking for a reliable source of extra income that can help sustain your farm operations and the environment, consider clean renewable energy,