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The Grazing Grass Podcast features insights and stories of regenerative farming, specifically emphasizing grass-based livestock management. Our mission is to foster a community where grass farmers can share knowledge and experiences with one another. We delve into their transition to these practices, explore the ins and outs of their operations, and then move into the "Over Grazing" segment, which addresses specific challenges and learning opportunities. The episode rounds off with the "Famous Four" questions, designed to extract valuable wisdom and advice. Join us to gain practical tips and inspiration from the pioneers of regenerative grass farming.
This is the podcast for you if you are trying to answer: What are regenerative farm practices? How to be grassfed? How do I graze other species of livestock? What's are ways to improve pasture and lower costs? What to sell direct to the consumer?
cal_1_06-20-2024_101837: Welcome to
the grazing grass podcast episode 122.
squadcaster-g2d9_1_06-20-2024_101838:
But the main thing is listen.
Listen,
and,
you know, put, put, put your
brain to it and see if it
works good for your operation.
cal_1_06-20-2024_101837: You're
listening to the Grazing Grass Podcast,
sharing information and stories of
grass based livestock production
utilizing regenerative practices.
I'm your host, Cal Hardage.
You're growing more than grass.
You're growing a healthier
ecosystem to help your cattle
thrive in their environment.
You're growing your livelihood by
increasing your carrying capacity
and reducing your operating costs.
You're growing stronger communities
and a legacy to last generations.
The grazing management
decisions you make today.
impact everything from the soil beneath
your feet to the community all around you.
That's why the Noble Research
Institute created their Essentials
of Regenerative Grazing course to
teach ranchers like you easy to follow
techniques to quickly assess your forage
production and infrastructure capacity.
In order to begin
grazing more efficiently.
Together, they can help you grow
not only a healthier operation,
but a legacy that lasts.
Learn more on their website at noble.
org slash grazing.
It's n o b l e dot org
forward slash grazing.
On today's episode, we are doing
something a little bit different.
A while back Danny Esposito
reached out to me from CROP America
about the potential of having a
renewable energy expert on our show.
Which as you know, our show focuses
on stories of regenerative ag and
our Wednesday episodes focus on that.
However, since we've added the
Friday episode in, I thought this
is perfect for the Friday episode.
Danny's goal in reaching out
to me, was just to provide
information about renewable energy.
So those people who are facing
a decision about it., Can
make a more informed decision.
That's the goal.
So he put me in contact and he
got set up with Dennis Stout.
For Dennis to come on the podcast
and discuss renewable energy.
Dennis Stout is also the Wind Farm Guy.
You can find him windfarmguy.com.
And Dennis is a wind energy expert.
He's worked on dozens of wind
energy projects with both
developers and land owners.
Dennis has a great amount of knowledge
when it comes to how, when energy projects
affect rural America and considerable
experience with real world cases.
So today we welcome Dennis
onto the show to share and we
go through renewable energy.
What it is, what it looks like.
And then we wrap up with
questions that were submitted
by the Grazing Grass Community.
I'd put a post there.
And said, what questions
do you want asked?
So any question that
was posted, we asked it.
And I'm, I'm pretty sure I got to
everyone's if I missed yours, I apologize.
But I think I have every question that
was posted, uh, asked today on the show.
My hope with this helps you
make an informed decision about
your thoughts on wind energy.
I know in my area of Oklahoma
and I talked about a little bit
when we're interviewing Dennis.
That.
Uh, it's a controversial topic.
We have some, some farms and ranches.
Uh, to the north of me, that's leased
their land to wind energy companies.
And there's a fairly large fraction
that's completely against it.
And right down the road, there is a "say
no to wind turbines" sign on the fence.
And when I thought about
the issue, I thought.
I don't know enough to
make an informed decision.
So our goal for today.
It's to help you make
an informed decision.
I will list any resources
in the show notes.
So you're able to go there
for more information.
If you'd like to have a discussion a
Grazing Grass Community post there.
Um, but enough of all this.
Let's get to the interview
and talk to Dennis.
cal_1_06-20-2024_101837:
Dennis, we want to welcome you
to the Grazing Grass Podcast.
We're excited you're here today.
squadcaster-g2d9_1_06-20-2024_101838:
Thank you.
I'm glad to be here.
Thanks for inviting me.
cal_1_06-20-2024_101837:
Dennis, to get started, tell
us a little bit about yourself.
squadcaster-g2d9_1_06-20-2024_101838: I
am I've been in the renewable industry
for, oh goodness, 18 years now.
Spent most of my time doing
development work and land
acquisition for the most part.
I also make videos and things
relative to the wind industry.
Because as there's a, there are
a lot of questions out there.
And where do people go for the
answers to those questions?
They go to the internet, which is full of
a lot of, there are some good answers out
there, but there's a lot of baloney too.
And several years back, I started this
video series called Wind Farm Guy, and
and they're really just taking questions
that I've received from all the different
landowners that I have visited with,
and giving real world answers for those.
And I've been doing that, I have well over
a hundred videos on my YouTube channel.
And that, that's what I do.
That's my, my passion, but what I
pay the bills with is I work for a
wind and solar developer and I with
them for a number of years now.
It is,
cal_1_06-20-2024_101837: conversation
is very apt timed because just in my
area of Oklahoma, northeast Oklahoma,
I live in Craig County, there's been
a lot of discussion over the last six
to ten months about wind turbines.
There's been some farms leased to
some companies and now we have signs
posted up say no to wind turbines.
I, I do think there's a little, it's
a little ironic one of the signs is
posted on one side of the road and
across the road was 2, 000 acres
that was mined for coal and That
does a lot to the area, that mining.
So I think that's interesting.
So I think it's a great time, at least
for my area, to have a discussion
and find out some facts and maybe
dispel some myths, but just be
transparent and let people know.
People know what's going on.
So to get started, Dennis,
what is renewable energy?
I think just a basic question like that.
squadcaster-g2d9_1_06-20-2024_101838:
that is, that comes from a source that
has does not have a finite amount,
you're not gonna run out of wind,
you're not gonna run out of sunshine.
That makes it renewable.
And whereas everything else there's
only a certain amount of oil, only
a certain amount of coal, only a
certain amount of those things.
And so they're not renewable.
cal_1_06-20-2024_101837: So when
we're talking about this, we're
talking about wind and solar projects.
And when we think about a utility
scale project, how big is one
of those projects versus just a
backyard project or something?
squadcaster-g2d9_1_06-20-2024_101838:
They're pretty good sized.
You have to recognize
they are power plants.
And so the, a turbine, when I
started doing this 18 years ago,
we were installing one megawatt,
one and a half megawatt turbines.
And today the turbines that are
being installed are five, six
megawatts, something like that.
And so they're significant in size.
And the, a big difference in.
One of a project of these in and
what you might have on your home is
Because they are power plants and I
know everything is a power plant even
the Backup generator at your house
is it's considered a power plant.
But these really are power plants and
Because of that in order to inject
that power into the grid there is a
Q process that the wind companies and
solar companies have to go through and
where the engineers do, study it and
they make sure that it's a good thing for
the grid, which is what you and I want.
What we want is as homeowners and
such, we want to be able to go
over and flip that light switch on
the wall and the lights come on.
And that's what the grid operator,
that's their job is to make sure
that is a very consistent thing.
And so they study it very closely.
cal_1_06-20-2024_101837: Oh, yeah.
Just to north of me, we have
all these properties been
leased by wind energy companies.
So what's the process for
that to become a wind farm?
Not necessarily the lease for the
farmer at this point, that's something
we want to talk about in a little bit,
but just getting that going to the
point that they're producing electric.
squadcaster-g2d9_1_06-20-2024_101838:
Okay to begin with, there are several
things that have to come together for
an area to even be a viable wind site.
First of all, there's got
to be good wind there.
You have to have willing landowners.
And you have to have available
transmission line with available
capacity on the transmission line.
And then there you have to have a
favorable permitting that might be, at the
county level or state level or whatever
so that They just, it has to be favorable
to allow for turbines to be in that area.
And then finally the sales price
for the electricity has to make
sense and it has to be favorable.
And so when those five things
line up, that could be a viable
location for a wind farm.
And then the wind company will send in
their crew, someone like me, to go and
talk to the landowners, talk to the county
folks and the people, the leadership
in the area, schools, superintendents,
and so on, and talk to them to get
their Get their feel on things.
Talk to the landowners
and get them on board.
Do they want to be a part of a wind farm?
And if they do get them leased,
and then then all the, once the
land is done, then the engineers
get involved and financial people.
And then they're the ones
that really do the work.
They're the smart guys that
get all that stuff figured out.
And so anyway, you get, once all of that
stuff is done, then the construction
crews come in and the wind farm is built.
And once it's operational, it
goes into operations and it
starts generating electricity.
cal_1_06-20-2024_101837: What kind
of time frame are you talking about
from time they start leasing land or
they've identified an area to, and just
assuming they're getting green lights
and they're able to get the land leased,
communities in support and everything?
How long does it take to get a
functioning wind farm going at that point?
squadcaster-g2d9_1_06-20-2024_101838:
It, it really depends on the area,
but it'll take several years.
cal_1_06-20-2024_101837: Oh, yeah.
squadcaster-g2d9_1_06-20-2024_101838:
And I will say that a second phase
generally goes a whole lot faster.
Because you already have made the
relationships with the county and you've
jumped through some of those hoops already
and so it just it's much, much quicker.
But your first phase of a wind farm
or solar farm can be, five, six years
or more.
Most development time
There's an agreement.
And at the very front side of the
development process is called they call it
different things, but it's a development
time where they're trying to lease all
the land and when all that's taken place.
And that generally is about five years.
So the idea is within that five
years, it will be in construction.
cal_1_06-20-2024_101837: And one of
the first things you said for wind
energy, you've got to have enough wind.
Is there certain parts of North America,
is there certain areas that are better,
more favorable for wind, certain areas
that you can, wouldn't even consider it?
squadcaster-g2d9_1_06-20-2024_101838:
Oh, absolutely.
If you were to see a map of the United
States showing the wind resources, it's
in this central part of the United States,
really east of the Rocky Mountains.
And it would be, it would include
Texas and then up through Oklahoma
and Illinois and Indiana and it
goes to the northeast a little bit.
The southeast part of the country
has horrible wind resources
and so you don't see wind farms
in the southeast part of the
United States.
cal_1_06-20-2024_101837: Oh, okay.
squadcaster-g2d9_1_06-20-2024_101838:
Now there's there's also some areas
offshore, you're starting to see those
CROP up in the northeast and they'll be
happening on the Pacific side as well.
But again, there have to be near load,
near a city for for that to make sense.
cal_1_06-20-2024_101837: And when
these come in, how's it affect the
farmers and ranchers in that area?
squadcaster-g2d9_1_06-20-2024_101838:
Actually it's very favorable.
Effect on farmers and ranchers.
It's a wind turbine only
takes, oh, let's say an acre.
Not even an acre really, but
just that's what's disturbed
during the construction process.
The footprint of a turbine is very small.
It's less than an acre.
So they're only taking
that out of production.
And it'll be their most, profitable
acre and their entire farm I
promise because they're not going
to make that amount of money from
whatever it is they're growing corn
or or whatever.
So it, it actually is a
very good thing for them.
And and as far as ranching
goes, it doesn't, does not
negatively affect the livestock.
In fact, cattle will they'll follow
the shadow around as the sun moves sky.
They'll follow the shadow around,
they're, they, you know how cattle are.
cal_1_06-20-2024_101837: Yes,
the shade of the tree just
moving around just a little bit.
Yeah.
Correct.
Now you mentioned there that it would be
the most profitable acre for a farmer.
How does that affect the farms
that lease to these companies?
And how does it affect
the community as a whole?
squadcaster-g2d9_1_06-20-2024_101838:
affects the farm it's a positive effect.
One, they, there's a the revenue stream,
the passive revenue stream that comes from
having a wind turbine on your property.
And, but then if you're a farmer what,
keep in mind, the turbines are out in
a field, they're not next to the road.
And so there's an access road that goes
out to the turbine and the farmer has
key, a farmer can use that access road.
So during harvest that access road can
come in very handy with their equipment
as they're harvesting and putting them,
putting the grain or whatever it is
in trucks and getting it out of there.
They oftentimes use
those those access roads.
So it actually is a very
convenient thing for them.
And then as far as the community
goes Well, let me just say this.
Rural America is hurting
and has been for years.
And we've all seen, schools
consolidating and such because their
tax base has moved away, moved to
the city or something like that.
And so you see school districts
that are consolidating and because
they just can't do it anymore.
They don't have the tax base to do it.
And that's one of the great things about
wind farms and solar farms is it's.
It's very much saving rural America.
I have superintendents of
schools in Roscoe, Texas tell me
that they were in discussions.
with the neighboring school system about
doing that very thing, consolidating.
And when wind farms came in and it
just, it changed everything that,
that because every taxing entity in
the county will get their piece of
the pie and schools are part of that.
And because the wind turbines or wind
farms in that area, They, not only did
they not have to consolidate, but they
were able to build new buildings and
hire new teachers and new science labs.
And, it just changed
everything in their world.
And the same thing happens
with, again, any taxing entity.
If there's a hospital district or the
ambulance service or fire district, all of
those entities that are taxing entities,
they'll get their, their automatically
get their piece of that tax revenue pie.
And then on top of that, it is very
common for wind wind companies to
make sizable contributions to a
fire department or a school or a
hospital or something like that.
And and you see those gifts
in newspapers all the time.
How this wind farm paid for an
ambulance or something like that.
And it just, or paid for new
equipment with the fire department.
And so it's, it is a tremendous
boost for that particular area.
cal_1_06-20-2024_101837: locally
about, I guess about a year ago,
they announced a new theme park
going in about an hour from me.
And to get that up and
going, they're making a huge
investment in that theme park.
The city is doing a TIF, because
they've got to improve some
infrastructure, the community does,
so that this theme park can thrive.
There's some ways to do that and
we don't want to get in deep part
of that but what I'm asking is the
community is there some cost the
community's got to come up with or is
this all funded by the energy company?
squadcaster-g2d9_1_06-20-2024_101838:
No, the community doesn't
have to come up with anything.
And the same can be
said for the landowners.
They don't have to come up and buy
anything or invest in the project.
The wind farm company will
come in, develop the project.
Everything is coming out of their pockets.
not the landowner, not
the local community.
And not occasionally, and
every state is different.
They handle things different.
Like you said, we don't want to get
into it, but sometimes they're some
projects have had a tax abatements or
something, which a community, an area
will use something like that to entice
an outside business to come in and
bring the business, Into an area for the
revenue and for the jobs and whatever.
And what that means is for a
certain amount of time there, the
taxes would be reduced or something
for up in the first part of it.
And then after a while everything
gets to where it should be.
cal_1_06-20-2024_101837: And with
that just going on that just a little
bit does a wind farm coming into a
community bring any jobs with it or is
it mainly through the lease payments
to the farmers and property values?
squadcaster-g2d9_1_06-20-2024_101838:
it does bring some jobs, especially
during construction, when it's under
construction, it looks like an anthill.
There's a lot of activity and the
wind companies generally try to use
as much local talent as possible.
There's no reason to bring in
welders and bring in electricians
and bring in road people because
every area has those guys and
girls, in place already.
And so most wind companies will try to
use as much local talent as possible.
A lot of times the county will
require a certain amount of local
talent during that construction time.
But then once a project is built there,
there's a staff there, the operations and
maintenance facility, there'll be a team
of people that maintain the turbines.
And there's those operations
and maintenance guys and
they can be local people.
In fact, there are a lot of colleges
that have programs that train people
to be wind turbine technicians.
And that way they, someone locally
can go and get certified to do that.
And, some, then it's a local
person that has that permanent job.
And then at the same time, there
are people that aren't local.
Let's say you use a, a
turbine from X company.
X company for the first couple of years
may provide some staff there to make sure,
because they're warranting the equipments,
they want to make sure everything is done
just and so they'll come in from outside,
cal_1_06-20-2024_101837: Oh, okay.
Yeah,
squadcaster-g2d9_1_06-20-2024_101838:
to use as much local talent as possible.
cal_1_06-20-2024_101837: When we're
talking about the farmers getting
some income from that how much on
average can a farmer earn from leasing
land to a renewable energy project,
and how long does that project last?
squadcaster-g2d9_1_06-20-2024_101838:
That, the answer to your first
question is near impossible to answer.
Every area is different, every company is
different, every project is different and
honestly what the value of an acre in one
part of the, and you're in Oklahoma, one,
that may be, that will be a
different price than say up in
Illinois or something like that.
And so the payments to the
landowners have to be appropriate
for its particular location.
And so I, there's really no way to answer.
answer that first question.
I will say this if we're talking
solar, because you know with
a wind turbine you're talking
one turbine out in the field.
With solar, it pretty
much occupies the field.
And so everything that, or the what
companies pay the landowners for
solar, it has to be replacement income
because that can no longer be farmed.
Whereas for a wind turbine, a
wind farm, it's not replacement.
It's on top of their farming operation.
And so it's, the two have
to be handled completely.
Um, wind, Wind farms and solar farms
you asked about the length of time,
it, they can be 20, 30, 40 years or
longer, again, every area is different.
Some places they don't want it to go
very long or as long as other places.
But you have to realize that
infrastructure has to stay in place
because the wind company has to, they're
getting investors to pay for the project
and they have to, it's got to be there
a while in order to pay for itself
and for them to make money and such.
cal_1_06-20-2024_101837: On the wind
turbines, depending on the length
of the lease, what's the lifetime
of a wind turbine that gets put in?
squadcaster-g2d9_1_06-20-2024_101838:
And that's a good question.
It's a young industry and it
is growing by leaps and bounds.
The technology, just in the 18
years I've been involved, the
technology has changed dramatically.
And and so there is a life span on them.
The warranty on them could
be as much as 20 years or so.
And so you know they'll last that long.
They're designed to last that long and
the operations and maintenance folks will
do everything they can to prolong that.
But let's be honest, 18 years ago we
were talking one megawatt turbines.
Today we're talking five
and six megawatt turbines.
If I were a landowner and I had a
turbine on me, I'd want them to come
and rip that dude out and put a new
one in because I'll make more money.
I mean, it's, so it's not so much the life
expectancy, it's what is technology going
to do in the next decade or two decades.
cal_1_06-20-2024_101837: and we
have that conversation a lot on
the podcast about virtual fencing.
The technology is fairly new on that,
but it's exciting times because just in
a few years the price is going to come
down on it and we're going to be able
to do some cool things with virtual
fencing, which I'm excited about.
So yeah, with energy, the technology
there is moving at a rapid pace.
squadcaster-g2d9_1_06-20-2024_101838:
It is.
cal_1_06-20-2024_101837: Now,
when we talk about a wind farm in
northeast Oklahoma, And I think you
alluded to this a little bit earlier,
but where's that energy going?
squadcaster-g2d9_1_06-20-2024_101838:
To the lights and
your, your ovens and no, it it, it
gets injected into whatever grid
is there, whether it's And there
are a number of grids in the United
States, the ERCOT and MISO and,
PJM and a whole bunch of other ones.
And it gets injected into
those grids and then it's like
water or natural gas pipeline.
It will flow the path, it'll go
the path of least resistance.
And so wherever power is being drawn
from that grid, that's the direction
those electrons are going to go.
Now, it may be sold to someone in another
part of the country, the electricity, but
it's, those electrons go where power is.
where do the wires go and where the
power's being taken off of the grid.
And, I get asked pretty
regularly about that question.
Where does it go?
And will some of the power, will it
stay local or is it being shipped
off somewhere else or whatever?
Sometimes it can stay local.
It all depends on what's
connected into that grid.
But even if every bit of it goes somewhere
else, That's really not a bad thing.
Doesn't that make it an export?
An export means you're bringing dollars
from over there to this area here.
So that's actually a good thing
if that happens to be the case.
And so it's, that's a question that gets
asked and people were like I don't want
my, if we're generating electricity,
I don't want it to go somewhere else.
And it's you don't have,
handle your corn that way.
Or any,
you grab, it's, that makes it an export,
which makes it a very good thing.
cal_1_06-20-2024_101837: I make more money
when my livestock leave my farm than,
when they're hanging out here,
so yes.
Yeah, and you mentioned this a little bit
earlier about solar farms they reduce,
there's some land use restrictions, and
I think you'd said for the wind turbines,
not really so much, but what land use
restrictions happen for either of them?
squadcaster-g2d9_1_06-20-2024_101838:
With with a wind farm, there's
not a whole lot of restriction.
Whatever you were doing on your property.
Before, you'll still be able
to do it after a wind turbine
is there, unless you're doing
something illegal or whatever.
I don't know.
But generally speaking, whatever you
were doing, you'll, you're probably
still going to be able to do it.
Including hunting whatever.
It's, most wind companies, they don't
care if you hunt, go get that big buck.
Go for it.
Now during construction,
that's a separate matter.
Nobody wants anyone to get
hurt and that's the big thing.
But really whatever you were doing
on your property before you probably
be able to do it afterwards.
Solar is a different matter.
It occupies the property.
It'll be fenced whereas
wind farms are not fenced.
And so the solar that field
is I'm, you're restricted.
You can't even go in there and now some
and they've been experimenting with
different things around the world, of
what to plant under them, so that, erosion
doesn't happen, and, what CROP would be
good under there, if you want to call
it CROP, it's just cover, ground cover.
But at the same time, once you plant
something, how do you maintain that?
Do you need to send folks in
with weed eaters and, once a
quarter or something, clean it up?
Or a lot of places have been trying sheep.
You just put sheep in there
and let them keep it clean.
Now you wouldn't want
to put goats in there.
That, would destroy
cal_1_06-20-2024_101837: if
they're resting on top of the
yeah,
squadcaster-g2d9_1_06-20-2024_101838:
exactly, exactly.
But yeah, there, you could, The a solar
field is you're restricted from using it.
With the exception, perhaps
of grazing sheep in there.
.
cal_1_06-20-2024_101837: Oh yes, yeah.
And I see a lot of benefit to grazing
sheep with solar panels, but to be
honest, I know there's solar, a couple
little installations I've drove by that
they put them so low to the ground,
you can't graze anything under them.
squadcaster-g2d9_1_06-20-2024_101838:
And I think that's part of the reason
why they are elevating them is because
if they're low to the ground, not only
can some livestock not get under there,
but nothing will grow under there and
you're creating this erosion problem.
And Most of the time, the ones that
I've seen anyway they're above the
ground so that there's some sunshine
that gets in there and that also
allows for critters to get in there
cal_1_06-20-2024_101837: Oh yeah.
squadcaster-g2d9_1_06-20-2024_101838:
and yeah.
Um, but the downside to that,
if they're low to the ground.
They're less likely to be seen, and
if they're up in the air, then you can
see them as you're driving by, and so
there's a give and take there, but I
think for the most part, people would
prefer a little bit of elevation there
so that it's, because farmers, even
though they're not farming it at that
time, they still don't want erosion,
cal_1_06-20-2024_101837: Oh,
squadcaster-g2d9_1_06-20-2024_101838:
that'll tear up their it'll
just destroy the area, and so
that's that's why they do that.
cal_1_06-20-2024_101837: Especially
in Regenerative Ag we all the
time talk about ground cover.
Gotta have something protecting the earth
or we're going to have erosion, soil
temperature is going to be way too high.
It's going to affect your
underground livestock.
Yeah.
Now when installation takes place,
what are some environmental concerns?
The construction, putting it in, is it
any different than any other construction?
Anything that, because we hear
it's bad for the environment,
it's bad for whatever.
Is there any concerns there
beyond any other construction?
squadcaster-g2d9_1_06-20-2024_101838:
It's, it is a big construction site.
And with wind turbines, there's a lot of
concrete that goes into those foundations
and so there's water use at that time.
And it's a construction site.
It's a mess.
It always
will be.
When you built your house, it was a mess.
Just construction sites are that way.
But it is a mess, but it's all
cleaned up and reseeded and it becomes
just pretty much the way it was.
Only there's a turbine there now.
And but as far as environmental wildlife,
it's not a concern for wildlife.
You hear about birds.
They really, and the industry
has been very proactive in
trying to deal with bird strikes
and they have eliminated bird strikes,
tremendously.
The, back in the old days, long time
ago, when in the early days of the
wind industry, the turbines were much
smaller, they were on these a tripod
type tower that had cross members in
there, and the blades would spin real
fast, and what happened back then, and
this is where wind farms got a bad rap
for, bird strikes, is birds would roost
in there on those cross members of the
cal_1_06-20-2024_101837: Oh, yeah.
squadcaster-g2d9_1_06-20-2024_101838:
just like an airplane, when the wind
is blowing this way, an airplane,
when they're landing or taking off,
they'll fly into the wind so they can
accomplish what they're needing to
do at a slower, a lower ground speed.
What would happen is they would as they
were coming in, they would and, and
another thing is that turbines back
then were passive rather than active.
Like today, the turbines are out
facing into the wind, so the wind hits
the blades before it hits the tower.
Back then, they were just the small
rotors were on the down downstream
side of the tower, at which would
mean the birds would be flying in.
to land where they're roosting
and they would hit those
blades or the blades would hit
them and it would strike them.
So when the turbines were redesigned
and the towers now are giant tubes and
they're much taller and the blades are
much longer so the rpms we're talking a
dozen rpms with these the bigger turbines
and so just some of these very basic
changes in the design of the turbines
eliminated most of the bird strikes.
Now there still are some bird
strikes that happen and so they
work hard to try to deter certain
birds from being in the area.
Most birds can see them, they see them
there and they just avoid them and,
but we don't want any of the birds
to get to, to get killed by them.
But the fact of the matter is Windows
in houses kill more birds than turbines
do.
Cars kill more birds than
turbines do, and house cats kill
more birds than turbines do.
And so if you were to look at wind
turbines and or if you were to
look at the things that kill birds,
wind turbines are way down on the
cal_1_06-20-2024_101837: Oh, yeah.
And I know with the wind farm
installations that's near me, and I
say near me, within an hour, those
blades are moving so slow, the
RPMs are so low on that, it just
amazes me how slow they move now.
And that brings me to a
question just on wind speed.
At what wind speed does
the turbine start working?
squadcaster-g2d9_1_06-20-2024_101838:
Again, every turbine is different.
It's like your car.
Some cars drive faster.
It can go faster than others.
But And then another thing to keep in
mind, the wind speed that you're, the
wind that you're feeling when you're
standing on the ground is vastly different
than what it is up at the hub height.
And it could be 20, 30
miles an hour or whatever.
And I don't even want to say a number
because it's, It'll be close for
one and it'll be wrong tomorrow.
And so, but there is a cut in speed
and there's also a cut out speed.
If the wind gets too fast,
they'll, it'll cut out to,
to protect the turbine.
cal_1_06-20-2024_101837: Oh, yes.
Yeah.
And with our tornadoes in the area
those high speeds can be hit sometimes.
And that brings up a question
that locally is important to me.
How do they fare in a tornado?
squadcaster-g2d9_1_06-20-2024_101838:
There was a tornado that went through
it in Iowa just recently and took
out two or three, several turbines.
And I think, I'm not, don't hold me to
this, but I think that was the first time
here in the United States that a tornado,
uh, was a direct hit on a turbine.
cal_1_06-20-2024_101837: And
I think I saw a video of that.
And when that happens, I'm assuming
there's safeguards in place and
that, that particular turbine is
automatically taken offline and
the others can continue to produce.
Is that a correct assumption?
squadcaster-g2d9_1_06-20-2024_101838:
And they do some things as a storm is
approaching so that the turbines are less
likely to damage themselves because of the
high winds.
cal_1_06-20-2024_101837: Oh,
okay.
squadcaster-g2d9_1_06-20-2024_101838: And
now if something is struck, and I want
you to notice, go back and look at the
video from Iowa, those that were struck.
What happened, what did those turbines do?
Those nacelles, they fell
straight to the ground.
They're very heavy.
The blades fell straight to the
It's not, even though those blades are
designed to catch the wind, They weigh
so much, they go straight to the ground.
And the the idea of, like in
the movie Twister or whatever,
things flying through the air.
Now I've seen cattle feeders flying
through I used to work for a TV station,
and I was a photographer, and so I
actually did some tornado chasing.
And I've seen a cattle feeder
just flying through the air.
And those are big and heavy
but they're also hollow.
And but those turbines that you
saw on the video in the strike,
the tornadoes in Iowa, those
things fell straight to the ground.
cal_1_06-20-2024_101837: Very good.
We hope we don't have to experience
a tornado and those people
that's had to suffer from them.
Our thoughts and prayers go to
them and things are getting better.
Changing gears just a little bit,
let's go back to the farmer and him
being approached by energy company.
What's some things that should
that farmer be aware of?
And on that negotiation
and going through that.
squadcaster-g2d9_1_06-20-2024_101838:
First of all, listen.
the person that is presenting
the information to them.
Obviously they have a vested interest.
They want to walk away at least at
the end of the negotiations with an
agreement, but at the same time, they
also want to get all those answers to
the questions that the landowners have.
And so listen to what they have to say.
And, put some gray matter into it.
I'd have to say, don't listen so
much to what the internet is saying.
And I will say this, when I started
this, when I started doing this 18
years ago rural, the people in rural
America really wanted, they liked it.
They were farmers, they were ranchers
or whatever, and they liked the
idea of this other revenue stream.
Since then renewable energy has
been politicized, and that's where
you get the left versus right, and
generally speaking, your landowners
are right leaning, because,
conservative America and and renewable
energy happens to be left leaning.
I really hate that because it
shouldn't be political at all.
We need to have strong energy policy.
That's the bottom line.
And and so they, they need to not listen,
don't get into the politics of it.
Make a good decision for the
farm, for the ranch, for whatever.
And ask the right questions, and
the industry is not real young
anymore and so states have certain
requirements that have to be in those
agreements, like reclamation and so on.
Those were questions that
used to, landowner used to
really need to drill in on.
A lot of it is already handled because
the, at a state level or at a county
level, there are some required things
that have to be in, in those agreements.
But the main thing is listen.
Listen,
and,
you know, put, put, put your
brain to it and see if it
works good for your operation.
cal_1_06-20-2024_101837: on those
lease discussions, do they typically
include, if the decommissioning process
of a wind turbine in those agreements?
squadcaster-g2d9_1_06-20-2024_101838:
Oh, absolutely.
Absolutely.
And and all the agreements are different.
Within a project, they should be the
same, but every project is different.
Every area is different.
But yeah, it's, and another thing is
years ago, sometimes people would, they
would just negotiate their own agreement.
Today, there's sizable percentage
of people that are being approached
that will take it to an attorney
Oh, make sure everything is being handled.
cal_1_06-20-2024_101837: One other
question on the leasing part of it.
You lease your land and they
come in and do this work.
At some point in the future,
you decide to sell that land.
How does that affect that process?
squadcaster-g2d9_1_06-20-2024_101838:
Just like any other lease you
might have on your property.
If you have a tenant farmer that farms
your property, That lease agreement
with that farmer goes with the surface.
So if you sold your property to Someone
else that farmer that you have farming
that he's still going to farm it or he
or she for as long as that agreement
is in place and so It's just like that.
It follows real estate law
for that particular state
cal_1_06-20-2024_101837: Oh, yeah.
Dennis, this has been a great discussion.
I'm learning lots, which is always good.
I need to learn more.
But I'd like to transition to
some questions we received from
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cal_1_06-20-2024_101837: I put out in
the community, said we're going to have
you on here, what's some questions.
you would like have answered.
I know some of these questions
will be questions that we may
have already covered, but we'll
go ahead and go over them again.
So our first question from our
community is from Bob, and his
question was, How many acres go out
of production for every 100 windmills?
squadcaster-g2d9_1_06-20-2024_101838:
Generally, again, during construction,
a wind turbine occupies about an acre.
That includes the crane pad and so on.
Once it's operational the, even with
the road going out to the, the small
lane going out to the turbine would
be less than an acre, but let's just
say an acre, just for simple math.
If there's a hundred turbines,
there'll be a hundred acres that
are taken out of production.
And a hundred turbines with these
larger turbines, that's gonna cover
a lot of property, a lot of square
miles to get a hundred turbines in.
cal_1_06-20-2024_101837: Oh yes, on
the turbines, how close can they be put
together, or is there an average, if
we talk about an orchard, we're talking
about we want trees spaced every so often.
How is that planned out?
squadcaster-g2d9_1_06-20-2024_101838: It
it's, there's a, mathematics goes into it.
The bigger the turbine, the
further they have to be apart.
The longer the blades, the
further they have to be
cal_1_06-20-2024_101837: Oh yeah.
squadcaster-g2d9_1_06-20-2024_101838:
And here's the reason why
when wind goes through a wind
turbine, the turbine is spinning.
It it disrupts the wind.
Okay, and so you've got to give
it some space for that wind to
let's just say to reorganize itself
before it hits the next turbine.
And so you've got to, you've got to spread
them out and the bigger the turbine, the
further apart they have to be have to be.
And so that's, there's not
an easy answer for that.
Generally it's in like a formula like,
and different companies do it differently.
It might be.
So many rotor diameters, you've got the
rotor that the, the three blades and
it might be that they might put their
turbines, 10 rotor diameters apart or
some number, whatever their number is.
And sometime, other companies may do it
by tip height, so many tip heights apart.
Everyone has their own formula.
But the bottom line is the
bigger the turbine, the further
apart they, they need to be.
cal_1_06-20-2024_101837: We have a couple
individuals ask very similar questions, so
I'm going to put them together, but Cody
says do wind farms affect weather patterns
in an area, while Jake points to a Harvard
study from 2020 that found wind turbines
will cause more warming in Minnesota
than emissions reductions would avert.
What's your thoughts on that?
squadcaster-g2d9_1_06-20-2024_101838:
Two thoughts on it.
There are very few things that we
as human beings on a small scale
will affect weather patterns.
The, on a larger scale, if you build a
reservoir, you build a dam and you back
up water and you have a reservoir, it's
going to change the weather patterns.
As cities grow and they have all of the
concrete in the city and it heats things
up, that can change the weather patterns.
The wind turbines are tall
and they are moving things.
I don't know.
I honestly don't know whether they
actually can change the direction of the
clouds or weather patterns or whatever.
I honestly don't know
that, but I will say this.
Several universities, I think University
of Illinois and maybe Iowa and Michigan
also but they did studies on the
effect of wind turbines on CROP yields.
And they were interesting studies, but
they all came up with a similar answers.
And that is depending on the CROP,
if it's a kind of a grass based
CROP, like wheat or something like
that, there's no effect whatsoever.
But on some other ones like corn
and soybean and whatever there was
a marginal improvement and the yield
of those fields that have a turbine.
And they do make a point to say
it's marginal, and I don't know
the science behind why but they
did come to the same conclusions.
cal_1_06-20-2024_101837: Very good.
The our next question, Tyler is
changing gears just a little bit.
He's wondering about what
wind energy options look like
for farm home generation.
squadcaster-g2d9_1_06-20-2024_101838:
I don't know a whole lot
about the residential size.
I think if it makes good financial
sense for you, um, then go for it.
I like the idea, but I don't
really, I can't really answer that.
That's not my,
cal_1_06-20-2024_101837:
that's not your expertise, yes.
Yeah.
Glenn is wondering, do wind
farms affect groundwater?
squadcaster-g2d9_1_06-20-2024_101838:
Not that I am aware of.
They're, like I say the water
that, that is used is all up front.
Unlike something that is where
a steam turbine is used, they
use a lot of water continuously.
Wind is not that way.
The ground water is well below the
turbines and their foundations.
And so I don't believe so.
But certainly worth I'm sure
some university will be studying
that if they haven't already.
Um,
I'm sure that will be the
cal_1_06-20-2024_101837: case, yes.
I have a couple more questions
that's very similar to each other.
Chris is wondering about the
dangers of blade ice to livestock.
And Miles says he's heard of
ice falling from blades that
is dangerous for livestock.
squadcaster-g2d9_1_06-20-2024_101838:
when yes, as they're moving through
the air and it's just like on an
airplane, ice can build up if the
weather conditions are just right.
There have been some efforts to
try, like on an airplane, try
to keep that from building up.
And yeah, I know industry wide they're
trying to address that, but the reality
of it is if there's a cold weather
event and when it starts to thaw,
pieces of the ice are going to come off.
And so I, honestly, I,
it only makes sense.
Don't go get near one, have your cattle
in another field or something or whatever.
That just makes good sense to do that.
Reduce the risk to your
operation and your health.
But yeah, that, that is a thing.
But how severe it is there's
some ownership of the people
that live there as well.
cal_1_06-20-2024_101837: Oh yeah.
Yeah.
Teddy asks, what are the long term lease
agreements for replacement and removal or
returning the land to the original state?
squadcaster-g2d9_1_06-20-2024_101838:
And like I say, every agreement I've
ever seen, and I've worked for a bunch
of different companies because I've done
contract work working for companies,
and they all have that restoration.
That's what it's
And they all have restoration language
and guidelines of what needs to be
done how far down to remove things.
What what to, re seeding and
timelines and all of that.
It's it's addressed.
It's a very good question
and that language has to
be in, in those agreements.
Because there, there have been
some unsavory things happen in
the past, either here in the U.
S.
Or abroad, and that, they address those
today, which is why a wind agreement
is, I don't know, 40, 50 pages long.
It
is not a simple document because they're
addressing all of those things that
people want to know
about.
cal_1_06-20-2024_101837: Yeah, very good.
Anna says, how do wind turbines
affect long term health in livestock
grazed under and around them?
squadcaster-g2d9_1_06-20-2024_101838:
Long term health and livestock has I
have seen cattle follow the shadow around
the, there, it doesn't
bother livestock at all.
Um, I've seen goats up on
the pad mount transformer.
I've seen deer all around
the base of a turbine.
And it's In fact, some areas I was working
on a project in Pennsylvania and they,
the landowner required that they use that
to, to seed the area after construction.
They have what they call Pennsylvania
mix, which I'm not sure what I'll grasses
and things that are in there, but it also
includes clover and deer love clover.
And so every one of those turbines
actually became a food plot for deer.
And you know it, and it was
actually bringing them in.
And so no, there was not
a negative effect at all.
cal_1_06-20-2024_101837: Yeah.
Very good.
Carl says, how much does it affect
the value of your property as
well as that of your neighbors?
squadcaster-g2d9_1_06-20-2024_101838:
Very good question.
There have been multiple
studies about that.
Obviously, if there is a turbine or,
anything creating a passive revenue
stream, that will absolutely add value.
. Because it will if there is
something generating a income.
It goes with the surface.
Unless there's some, the person
selling it, they may reserve that,
but they're really hurting themselves
if they do something like that.
Is, but there have been studies that,
interestingly enough multiple studies
have come to the same conclusion that
wind turbines have, either do not affect
the value of the property at all, or it
can even increase the value slightly,
even in what's called the viewshed area.
And what viewshed means is, you
don't have any infrastructure
on you, but you can see them.
You can see turbine from there.
And I'm a real estate agent myself.
And and sometimes it's hard to figure
out why this is, but it is the truth.
And it's it's a, It does
have a positive effect.
And I went into Indiana and visited with
some real estate agents and appraisers
and so on that were near a wind farm.
They had been there for a
decade and I said, don't tell me
what you think I want to hear.
Tell me what the truth is.
How do, what's the value of this,
these properties around this wind farm?
How does it compare to properties
in another part of the county where
they're not anywhere near that?
And they all said exactly the same
thing, including one lady that says,
I don't like wind turbines, but it
doesn't hurt the value of the property.
cal_1_06-20-2024_101837: Interesting.
squadcaster-g2d9_1_06-20-2024_101838:
apologized.
She said, I hate to tell you this, but
it doesn't hurt.
cal_1_06-20-2024_101837: Yeah, good
little surprising answer or interesting
answer I didn't anticipate there.
Chase has a longer
question so I'll read it.
How many years does it take for
one windmill to reach positive net
energy production versus the energy
and fossil fuels that are used?
fuels it took to mine for minerals,
produce parts, transport pieces,
ground prep work, hole excavation,
cement based pouring, installation
and maintenance of one unit.
Not to mention the energy required to
install power lines and a substation
to collect and ship energy produced.
Basically, he sums it up, have they done a
life cycle analysis of the energy produced
by turbines versus the energy it took to
produce and install and maintain them.
squadcaster-g2d9_1_06-20-2024_101838:
Yes, there have been studies done.
I don't know the results of let me give
you just the real practical result.
There have been studies by the turbine
manufacturers and the transmission
pole manufacturers and all the people
that create the different components
and aspects of a wind farm and
they have figured out what it costs
or what they need to get and when
they sell those in order to recover
those costs that he just mentioned.
And then the wind companies have to
buy those and then install those in.
So woven into the buying and selling
of the components and installing them.
It's already done.
And the manufacturers are making money.
The turbine the wind
companies are making money.
The landowners are making money.
The electric companies are making money.
And has it been done?
Absolutely.
And the practical side of it
is it's making everybody money.
And so it must be making sense.
cal_1_06-20-2024_101837: Yeah.
Yeah.
Skyler asks, what protections
and guarantees are there
against stray voltage?
squadcaster-g2d9_1_06-20-2024_101838:
Stray voltage is a, it's a real thing.
It's or EMFs, electromagnetic
fields is another thing.
But I will tell you this.
We as a culture are, we're very
comfortable with electricity.
We all know there are,
there's stray voltage.
We know there's electromagnetic fields.
It's, it is a given.
Yet we still invite it into our homes.
We put those wires in our walls
right next to our recliner,
right next to our baby's crib.
We're okay with it.
And wind turbines that we're
talking way out in the field.
And they're, I do know that under some
transmission lines wind I've never done
this, but I have been told that if you'll
hold up a fluorescent light bulb under
a transmission line, it'll turn on.
Just you holding it in your hand.
I've never done that.
I've wanted to, I don't know.
But I also know a rancher
in the Texas panhandle.
They built a new transmission line.
It wasn't us, but they built
a new transmission line and it
happened to go over a water tank.
And all this cattle stopped
using that water tank.
And I think there was just enough
stray voltage that they would get
a little bit of a zap or something.
They moved the water tank,
everything, they also, the
cattle started using it again.
So it's a real thing.
I don't know, I don't know that it's much
of a danger because, We all use it and
pull it in But as far as the safeguards,
it's we do with the not the wind
industry, but the Electrical engineering.
I mean there are things that we have
to live by you know It has to be
so many feet above the ground for
overhead depending on the voltage or
so many feet Below ground if you're
burying it And so those are given.
I'm not, again, I'm not an engineer.
I don't know what those numbers
are, but we have to live by those.
cal_1_06-20-2024_101837:
Yeah, makes sense to me.
Aaron's got three questions for us.
Are livestock producers compensated
for the loss of grazing area where
turbines and access roads are built?
If so, how is that calculated?
squadcaster-g2d9_1_06-20-2024_101838:
Again, every agreement is
different but I will say this.
I've not seen one because the amount
of grazing ground that is taken out
is so minor compared to the rest
of the farm, and they're making so
much more money from that turbine.
It's not even, To my knowledge, I've
never seen one with it in there.
And now I have their farming is different.
There are CROP damages and things.
And so that's a little different, but
as far as grazing cattle, it'd be worth
asking the if they're being approached by
somebody with a wind company, ask them,
you know, see if they'll put it in there.
cal_1_06-20-2024_101837: Yeah.
Second question Aaron has, when
acquiring land for wind farms, what
are the landowner's biggest concerns?
squadcaster-g2d9_1_06-20-2024_101838:
Oh, that's good.
Again, everybody is different.
It all depends on what they've heard, what
their neighbors have told them and so on.
I will say this landowners, when
you're talking rural land, especially
if it's a legacy property, that's
been in the family for a long time
landowners look to that property.
almost like a brother, a family
member, and they want to do
right by that piece of property.
And they take it very seriously and
they want to make sure that it's good,
not only for their pocket book, but,
for their brother, that, that track, if
that makes sense.
And That's, But that, most of the
questions that we've talked about,
everyone has these and other ones
that, and they're asking really good
ones here, and these are questions
that I get asked quite a bit.
cal_1_06-20-2024_101837: Oh, yeah.
His third question, from a farmer's
perspective, a wind farm would be
much more impactful on land use for
crops what kind of impact would a wind
farm or wind turbine have on pasture
ground or to a livestock operation?
Besides the loss of pasture,
is there any other impacts?
squadcaster-g2d9_1_06-20-2024_101838:
Again, it's the impact of a wind turbine,
that loss of acreage, that take, acres
taken out of production is so minor.
It's negligible, whether you're
talking farming or grazing or whatever.
It's the house that you build out
on that farm takes up way more
space than that turbine will.
cal_1_06-20-2024_101837: Very good.
Dennis our next two questions.
are really pretty much the
same so I'll combine them.
Brent says, do these wind turbines
generate magnetic fields and what
impact does that have on livestock?
And David asks, what types of
electromagnetic radiation do they emit?
squadcaster-g2d9_1_06-20-2024_101838:
And as I mentioned, just a few minutes
ago, anytime there's electricity going
down a wire, it will create a EMF
electromagnetic field and that's just
now wire without electricity going down,
it doesn't have an EMF, but if there
are electrons going down it, it does.
And it's again, we are
so comfortable with that.
We bring it into our homes and I, I got
a meter to walk around And I stood under
transmission lines and took some readings
and then I went into the house and got
next to plugs and light switches where
there was power going through there.
And it is it, you'd be
surprised, I'll just put it
this way, what's actually
happening inside our homes.
And so it's, it is a real thing,
but then you have the question,
does that actually hurt us?
And you can't, I have not been able to
come up with a definitive answer as to
whether those EMFs actually harm you.
cal_1_06-20-2024_101837: Oh
squadcaster-g2d9_1_06-20-2024_101838:
I I don't know.
cal_1_06-20-2024_101837:
My, my grandma was very much
about the benefits of magnets.
So she had A blanket or quill almost
that had magnets all in it between her
box springs and her mattress on her bed.
squadcaster-g2d9_1_06-20-2024_101838: Huh.
And maybe kept her healthy.
cal_1_06-20-2024_101837: Maybe yeah.
Let's see.
Leah's got our next question,
and I'm going to rephrase just
a little bit on this question.
But if a Energy company should go
out of business for any reason.
Who maintains and removes
the structures at that point?
And how long do you think the government
subsidy of wind turbines will continue?
squadcaster-g2d9_1_06-20-2024_101838:
Let me handle the second one first.
The The government's involvement in
wind farms is, the wind companies do
not get money from the government.
Taxpayers do not pay into, and those
dollars end up in wind companies pockets.
It is simply a tax credit.
With wind, it's a production tax credit.
With solar, it's an investment tax credit.
And they're phasing those out anyway.
But And honestly, in Dennis's opinion,
every form every form of energy
needs to have be supported and have
incentive from the federal government.
You take all industrialized
countries, they're, all forms of
energy are either incentivized or
owned outright by the government.
And so why would wind be any different?
And so it, it just makes sense to me.
I want, we're talking
the United States here.
I want the United States to
have very strong energy policy.
and I lived through the oil embargo and
different things and that's not fun.
And we need to make sure that we
have very strong energy policies.
And I'm sorry, what was the
first part of that question?
cal_1_06-20-2024_101837: The first
part, if a company goes out of business,
who's going to maintain or
remove those structures?
squadcaster-g2d9_1_06-20-2024_101838:
And that has happened.
A wind company has gone out of
business and, without going into a
lot of detail there, I will say this.
It was more of an investment
company than a wind company,
but they owned these things.
They made some other investments
that were not related to wind
and they went out of business.
But as when something, just like
when something is foreclosed on.
the banks end up owning those.
Banks don't want to own real estate.
They don't want to own things.
And so they, they sold
that for cents on a dollar.
Other companies bought them on the cheap.
And so they got good deals.
And to my knowledge, and
I did check into it.
I don't think anyone missed a single
payment, not even late at all.
It just, because.
You have to look at it
from the point of view.
Those are great assets.
Somebody's going to want to scoop
those up at cents on the dollar.
And they do.
And so it's not like it's just going
to sit there and no one operates it and
it's just sitting there out in the field.
That's just not how it
works with our our economy.
cal_1_06-20-2024_101837: Oh yeah.
Yeah.
Alec.
Has a question for us.
Uh, when will they come back and fix all
the fence they tore out and patched in?
I'm assuming that's probably
comes back to that agreement.
squadcaster-g2d9_1_06-20-2024_101838:
Yeah, it does.
And Wind companies are not
fence companies, just like
they're not road companies.
They try to build as few roads as possible
and they try to tear up as few fences
as possible and they'll hire local fence
people to come and do all the repair work.
That's an individual project.
And like you say, it should be
addressed in that agreement.
And and it all depends
on, it's really funny.
It depends on where in
the country you are.
You go to some parts of the country
and it's all about fences and gates.
By golly, I want, cattle
guards and all of that.
You go to another part of the country and
they don't care about fences and gates.
They want to know about erosion and
water runoff.
And it's It just depends on where you are.
But to, to that person's question,
I'm sorry that's happening, but she
needs to be talking to a representative
with that company and get that
cal_1_06-20-2024_101837: Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
I appreciate the grazing grass
community providing some questions
for us to go through and we appreciate
you answering that for them.
squadcaster-g2d9_1_06-20-2024_101838:
Have good
Too.
cal_1_06-20-2024_101837: to wind down
just a little bit, What advice do
you have to landowners considering
leasing land to solar or wind projects?
squadcaster-g2d9_1_06-20-2024_101838:
Now I, this is what I do for a living.
And so my advice would be make the
agreement as good as it can be for you.
and then jump at it because it, it is a
passive revenue stream for 40, 50 years.
Whether we're talking wind or solar either
way I've talked to some landowners that I
was working on a solar project and, some
people go, Oh, I can't farm the property.
And I don't want to have any part of that.
There was someone that boy, they jumped
at it because they were retirement age.
And they were like, hey, I can
continue to get the money that I
would have made had I been farming it.
And, it'll not, it'll outlast
me and my kids will end up
getting that revenue stream.
Plus, at the end of the life of
the project, because it hasn't
been farmed for 40 or 50 years.
That ground is so healthy.
And talk about keeping the, setting your
property up so it stays in the family.
Because that's another thing that I
see a lot is you have farmers, they
grew up out there, but their kids have
gone off to college and now they're
living in a city and they don't want
to go out there and farm the ground.
And so now the poor
landowner's faced with.
Gosh, I have to sell
granddad's property now.
I don't want to do that.
And that having a Passive revenue stream
is a great way to keep that property
cal_1_06-20-2024_101837: Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
And Dennis, lastly, where can
others find out more about you?
squadcaster-g2d9_1_06-20-2024_101838:
Oh I have a well a couple
of things CROP america.
com is a great resource that you
can go to and learn all sorts of
things about renewable energy.
I do videos myself.
It's I'm, windfarmguy.
com is my website.
I also have a YouTube channel and
so those would be the two places
I would send folks is CROPamerica.
com and windfarmguy.
com.
cal_1_06-20-2024_101837: And we'll put
those links in our show notes as well.
Dennis, really appreciate you coming
on, answering our questions expanding
our knowledge on renewable energy.
squadcaster-g2d9_1_06-20-2024_101838:
Happy to be here.
Thanks for the invitation.
Cal: I really hope you
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I know I did.
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