The Department of Agriculture and the Energy Department launched a new initiative to help farmers cut costs and increase income using underutilized renewable technologies.
Through the Rural and Agricultural Income & Savings from Renewable Energy initiative, USDA is setting an initial goal of helping 400 individual farmers deploy smaller-scale wind projects using USDA’s Rural Energy for America Program.
This goal is made possible because of the Inflation Reduction Act which provided more than $144 million in grant funding for underutilized technologies through the REAP program.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says, “These investments will create long-lasting economic benefits for their families, businesses and communities for years to come.”
Additionally, the Energy Department announced $4 million in related funding, including $2.5 million to support distributed wind technologies for the agricultural sector, and $1.5 million to support outreach and the identification and development of new business models for farmers to save money and earn income deploying these technologies.
