How Wind Can Help Farmers & Ranchers

For generations, wind power has been used by farm owners for mill processing, water pumping, and other uses. And in recent years, most agricultural farms are along the plains of America where winds are the strongest. Wind Energy companies want to work with farmers to help support their incomes. The Sagamore Wind Project wants to establish around 260 wind turbines in Roosevelt County, New Mexico. This project will leave 98-99% of agricultural land in use while supplying farmers and ranchers with additional income and stability during price fluctuations or seasonal changes. This could also bring additional jobs to the community in construction and maintenance Projects like the Sagamore Wind Project would help more farming/rural communities develop and diversify their economies around the country. This brings a new industry and complements the existing ones without taking away a majority of land. In the coming years, renewable energy will be the only source of utility that will be in the state of New Mexico. And there will be a necessary transition to have similar wind projects coming up along the eastern part of New Mexico. In 2018, New Mexico produced 18.7% of all in-state electricity used. Those numbers will only continue to grow as over 2,000 megawatts of renewable energy will be produced once current projects under construction are completed. That will make wind energy provide over a quarter of the overall energy produced. Job opportunities will also grow with already over 2,000 jobs being created by direct wind energy jobs. These benefits apply to farmers and ranchers as they grow into a new industry that will be one of the main contributors of energy to New Mexico and surrounding states.

https://modernag.org/energy-conservation/farming-the-sky/

https://sagamorewind.com/about-project https://www.awea.org/wind-101/benefits-of-wind/wind-in-my-community/agriculture https://www.awea.org/Awea/media/Resources/StateFactSheets/New-Mexico.pdf