Iowa is known for its farms, but its landscape is also filled with wind turbines. The state produced 59% of its energy from wind in 2023, the highest share of any US state. For many farmers, wind energy is not about politics or climate change. It is also a way to earn a steady income from their land.
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Dave Johnson, a livestock farmer in northern Iowa, leases part of his land to a utility that installed four wind turbines on his property, Vox reported. The turbines bring him about $30,000 a year in total. Johnson raises cattle and hogs and says he wanted his farm to generate more value.
“I never had a 401(k),” Johnson said. “I farmed and stuck everything back into the farm. This is the 401(k) that I never had,” he told Vox.
Johnson is a Republican and said he voted for Donald Trump. His son also has wind turbines on his farm. For Johnson, however, the turbines are mainly an economic decision. The steady income from them gives his farm another source of money at a time when farming can be difficult.
Johnson is not the only farmer in the area who has chosen wind energy. Fred Koschmeder, a corn and soybean farmer near Johnson, also has turbines on his land. He too said he voted for Trump, but does not see wind energy as a political issue.
“I don’t even look at it as a political thing,” Koschmeder said. “It is economic development. If you’ve got a chance to participate in something that brings value, I think you’re kind of foolish not to do it. It adds a lot of value to your farm and extra income, too.”
Why wind became so important in Iowa
Iowa has become a major wind-energy state for several reasons. The simplest one is that the state has strong winds. Iowa is not the windiest state in the Great Plains, but it is closer to large population centres such as Chicago, which need large amounts of electricity.
The state also adopted policies supporting renewable energy early. Iowa became the first US state to establish a renewable portfolio standard in 1983. The policy required investor-owned utilities to contract for or own at least 105 megawatts of renewable energy.
Iowa reached that target by 1999, according to Tom Wind, a crop farmer and electrical engineer who has worked in the wind sector for decades. Later, state and federal tax incentives helped wind energy expand further.
Republican Senator Chuck Grassley also played a role in the growth of the industry. In the 1990s, he helped establish a federal tax credit for building wind farms. This eventually earned him the title of the “father” of Iowa wind energy.
Farmers became an important part of the growth because turbines gave them another source of income. Crop prices and yields can change, while a wind turbine can provide relatively stable revenue of thousands of dollars each year.
Farmers see wind as extra income
Farming in Iowa has become more difficult in recent years. The price of some crops, including soybeans, has fallen, while farm expenses such as tractor repairs have increased with inflation.
For farmers such as Johnson, wind energy provides an additional source of income alongside agriculture. He said the money from turbines can help farmers continue working on their land. Wind energy “is allowing farmers to stay on the farm,” Johnson said. “That helps rural America.”
The financial benefit also extends beyond farmers. Steve Guyer, senior energy policy counsel at the Iowa Environmental Council, said people across the state can benefit from wind power through energy costs.
