Fighting 'Solar Farm' Installation

[Peter 315]

So a farmer that is raising energy, using solar panels is ,,,, a farmer!

Yes he's harvesting the sun....lol

 

[WM75Guy]

I wish I knew for sure what some of the farmers in West Texas were getting in lease payments. But what I was told by someone that has a relative farming around the windmills is they made more money off the leases than they did from the crops.

I would think that it is close to correct as there is a lot of farmers taking advantage of the program. So if it benefits the farmer and it is his land he can do whatever he sees fit in my book. Hopefully they are doing well!

Our land near Midland is leased out for oil, gas, and wind. The land is farmed for cotton. There are 3 tracts, the left and right are 160-acre quarter sections, the center is 100 acres. There are 4 vertical well sites, with the right hand well drilled in 1965 being plugged last year. Those 4 wells easily made up for any loss in crop money. Plus royalty checks come in every month whereas crops are not guaranteed. The move is to horizontal wells. There are currently 33 wells being developed under our properties and none of the infrastructure is on our land. We also get ROW payments whenever a new pipeline is laid on the property, usually along the road frontage. After the pipeline is laid the pipeline easements are still farmed. ROW payments can generate 10X annual crop payments.

Without getting into specifics, using the land for cotton production that is used for oil & gas would not generate 1/1,000 of the income we get from oil, gas, and wind. The top left corner of the left hand property is not suitable for farming. We dig caliche out of it and sell to the drilling companies to make pad sites. One sale of caliche generates the same revenue as cotton production for the year.

 

[5030]

Michigan is about to vote on a bill that will prohibit any large solar installation on fertile farm ground. Hope it passes. Where we have our farm is very fertile ground, in fact about the best tillable ground in Michigan.

 

[K5lwq]

Our land near Midland is leased out for oil, gas, and wind. The land is farmed for cotton. There are 3 tracts, the left and right are 160-acre quarter sections, the center is 100 acres. There are 4 vertical well sites, with the right hand well drilled in 1965 being plugged last year. Those 4 wells easily made up for any loss in crop money. Plus royalty checks come in every month whereas crops are not guaranteed. The move is to horizontal wells. There are currently 33 wells being developed under our properties and none of the infrastructure is on our land. We also get ROW payments whenever a new pipeline is laid on the property, usually along the road frontage. After the pipeline is laid the pipeline easements are still farmed. ROW payments can generate 10X annual crop payments.

Without getting into specifics, using the land for cotton production that is used for oil & gas would not generate 1/1,000 of the income we get from oil, gas, and wind. The top left corner of the left hand property is not suitable for farming. We dig caliche out of it and sell to the drilling companies to make pad sites. One sale of caliche generates the same revenue as cotton production for the year.

View attachment 796461

That is inline with what I was told. Thanks for clarifying this!

 

[Hay Dude]

Our land near Midland is leased out for oil, gas, and wind. The land is farmed for cotton. There are 3 tracts, the left and right are 160-acre quarter sections, the center is 100 acres. There are 4 vertical well sites, with the right hand well drilled in 1965 being plugged last year. Those 4 wells easily made up for any loss in crop money. Plus royalty checks come in every month whereas crops are not guaranteed. The move is to horizontal wells. There are currently 33 wells being developed under our properties and none of the infrastructure is on our land. We also get ROW payments whenever a new pipeline is laid on the property, usually along the road frontage. After the pipeline is laid the pipeline easements are still farmed. ROW payments can generate 10X annual crop payments.

Without getting into specifics, using the land for cotton production that is used for oil & gas would not generate 1/1,000 of the income we get from oil, gas, and wind. The top left corner of the left hand property is not suitable for farming. We dig caliche out of it and sell to the drilling companies to make pad sites. One sale of caliche generates the same revenue as cotton production for the year.

View attachment 796461

I think that’s great.
It sucks that farming can’t pay enough so that one isn’t required to have off farm work or income.
But having the option to cover 100 acres with solar panels is better than starving for income. I make more income off farm than I do commercial farming.
We see lots of farmers going under. We drove through Virginia a few months ago and saw many farms for sale and farm equipment liquidations.

 

[TIMMYDUCK]

How is that a plus for you?

They add money to our town coffers but use no town services of any kind .

If the solar farm hadn’t gone in , it would have been 500 single family homes with 2.3 children each .

 

[Hay Dude]

They add money to our town coffers but use no town services of any kind .

If the solar farm hadn’t gone in , it would have been 500 single family homes with 2.3 children each .

Hmmmm
Solar farm or 500 houses??????

I’d probably be happier with the solar farm, than the houses, too.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Yesterday I saw a bunch of ugly houses going up in what used to be a nice field.

 

[MossRoad]

Seems like this thread has gone off the rails. What does all this hay/farming talk have to do with solar panels?

Hay is solar energy.

 

[bnold]

Do you find that fair to others who are subsidizing your array?

About as fair as the thousands of other subsidies/handouts I don’t agree with.

But thanks for your contribution. Our shared array produced about 20MWh on my shop roof last year. Thinking of 2nd install this year.