No matter which way you slice it, the farm economy is in a challenging place right now.
Farmers are running the numbers on their operations. For many, the numbers aren’t adding up. Fertilizer costs are up. Fuel isn’t coming down. Equipment payments aren’t stopping. As the margins that keep a farm in the family keep getting thinner, many farmers are evaluating their options. Not to get rich. Just to stay afloat.
One of those options is putting solar panels on a portion of the farm acreage. Not replacing crops or giving up farming. Just using a small part of what they own to generate steady income and lower their power bills.
For a lot of farmers right now, solar is not a political issue or environmental statement. It’s a way to make the math work. As president of CB solar, I’ve helped plenty of farms here in Iowa install solar arrays on their property, and I’ve seen first-hand how solar brings stability to farm families.
Too many debates in Washington around solar and agriculture treat it like a choice between food and energy. But increasingly, farmers are doing both. For farmers facing unpredictable markets, weather, and input costs, a long-term solar lease and lower electricity bill can provide something rare: stability.
That’s why programs like the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) matter. REAP has helped farmers install energy systems, cut costs, and invest back into their operations. This is not a partisan issue. Farmers don’t ask whether something is Republican or Democrat. They ask whether it works. REAP has worked.
Now, as the Senate takes up the farm bill, lawmakers face a choice: Protect programs like REAP that help farmers lower long-term costs or cut a valuable program for rural Americans. Cutting this critical program would be a mistake.
At a time when President Donald Trump is focused on lowering costs and strengthening domestic energy, helping farmers generate their own power checks every box. Energy produced on American farms, by American landowners, is about as local and secure as it gets.
That doesn’t mean every project should move forward without scrutiny. But the answer isn’t to take options off the table entirely. The answer is to make sure those options are available and workable through the farm bill.
Rolling back REAP wouldn’t be a victory for rural America. It would simply make it harder for farmers to use their own land and keep their operations afloat. This is about whether Washington will help ensure the folks that know their land the best get a chance to do what they’ve always done: tend to their land and provide for their communities.
Tyler Bacon is president of CB Solar of Des Moines.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: By backing solar, farm bill can help keep family farms alive | Opinion
Reporting by Tyler Bacon, Guest columnist / Des Moines Register
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Tyler Bacon, Guest columnist | USA TODAY Network
