The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Energy Department have 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 only possible because of President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act which provided more than $144 million in grant funding for underutilized technologies through the REAP program.
“These investments will create long-lasting economic benefits for their families, businesses and communities for years to come,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said.
The Energy Department also 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.