Property Rights Include Wind & Solar Farms
By Rachel Conner, Executive Director of Hoosiers for Renewables and 5th Generation Hoosier farmer
My family owns a dairy farm in Henry County and has for four generations before me. I learned the values of hard work and making a living from the land at an early age – values I hope I am passing on to my two young sons.
I also grew up seeing first-hand the struggles that make or break a farm. Farmers need options to keep farms viable, not just to survive, but thrive. That’s why I believe property rights are so important, for without them we don’t have the freedom to protect our livelihoods, or the option to seize new economic opportunities and set up the next generation of Hoosiers for success.
One of those opportunities is renewables – leasing a portion of land for temporary wind or solar development. These leases provide farmers who want them with another crop to harvest, from the wind or sun, along with their corn and soybeans. There are a lot of reasons why farmers would want to lease to renewables – and you can read more about those here.
When farmers benefit everyone benefits – and that includes the communities where solar or wind farms are located. You can read more about that too, on our county benefits page.
For all these reasons I’m proud to be a part of Hoosiers for Renewables, an organization that supports property rights so farmers can make their own choices about wind and solar.
A lot has been said about the concerns of neighboring properties next to solar or wind farms. We can respect those concerns through reasonable standards for screening and setbacks, without taking away rights from anyone. I’d like to think that if my parents decided to add wind or solar to supplement their farm income that their neighbors would want them to be successful – just as we want our neighbors to succeed.
Unfortunately, my family farm is in a county where the local government took property rights away. My mom and dad couldn’t use their land for solar or wind even if they needed it to keep the farm going. And that’s not right.
If you’re reading this, you’ve taken a stand in support of property rights and our farmers who want or need wind or solar. I hope you’ll continue to speak in support of property rights. And that you’ll learn more about wind and solar energy and how it supports our farms, communities and Hoosier way of life.