Exploring how farmers and ranchers use renewable energy projects to diversify revenue and protect their operations
Across the country, farmers and ranchers are looking for ways to strengthen their financial stability while facing unpredictable markets, weather extremes and rising input costs. One increasingly popular option is hosting renewable energy projects on their land.
For many, renewable energy has become a reliable form of income diversification, helping protect family farms while keeping them productive for future generations.
Why Income Diversification Matters
Agriculture has always been cyclical. Commodity prices rise and fall, weather events can wipe out crops, and unexpected costs — from equipment repairs to medical bills — can strain farm budgets. Diversifying income beyond traditional production helps farmers manage risk and reduce dependence on any single source of revenue.
Renewable energy offers a stable, long-term solution. Lease payments from developers or revenue from community solar programs can provide predictable annual income, often guaranteed for decades.
Ways Farmers Earn from Renewable Energy
- Solar leases: Developers pay landowners to host large-scale solar arrays.
- Wind leases: Hosting wind turbines allows continued farming or grazing around the structures while generating steady income per turbine.
- Battery storage projects: These facilities provide critical support for the grid and can offer landowners additional lease revenue.
- Agrivoltaics: Farmers can graze livestock or grow certain crops under solar panels, earning lease payments while keeping land in production.
Benefits Beyond the Lease Check
Renewable energy on farmland doesn’t just add income — it can help preserve family farms by providing lease payments that cover debt, fund new equipment or make it possible to pass land down to the next generation. It also supports resilience, giving farmers more financial stability to withstand tough seasons. In many cases, renewable projects offer an alternative to selling land for non-agricultural development, helping protect farmland for future use. At the same time, these projects boost rural economies by creating local jobs and generating tax revenues that support schools, roads and emergency services.
Renewable energy isn’t just about producing power — it’s about producing stability. For many farmers and ranchers, hosting solar, wind or storage projects offers a new revenue stream that helps keep their land productive, their families secure and their legacy intact.
REFA is here to help you evaluate the opportunities on your terms while protecting your land, livelihood and legacy. Learn more about our membership benefits here.
