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Press Release

20th October 1999

A New Lease of Life for Farmers

A tractor at Carland Cross wind farm in Cornwall

A potential £100 million windfall for landowners?

A new perspective on rural diversification might provide a solution to some of the current hardships faced by Britain's farming community. Farming at large has never had it so bad; the economics of animal husbandry, the common agricultural policy and exchange rate disadvantages faced by British farmers have left the industry and the rural economy in its worst crisis for many years.

Increasingly, farmers and landowners are turning to alternative sources of income to keep their businesses going. Whilst B&B, paintballing and camping sites can in some places help in ekeing out an income, farmers are best placed to harness one of the greatest natural resources of the UK. Across Britain a handful of landowners already gain valuable income by leasing their land for wind farms.

This is a policy long endorsed by the Country Landowners Association; Oliver Harwood, National Rural Practice Surveyor, says the CLA supports the development of renewable energies including wind, as they help support the rural economy and protect rural environments, with very low long-term environmental costs. "The CLA has backed the development of wind energy for many years now, and see it as having huge benefits for the countryside: new wind turbines should be permitted, provided interests of importance are respected."

This is a message now being supported by the National Farmers' Union. Rachel Wright, NFU Advisor on Alternative Crops and R&D, said "Farmers are investigating ways of supplementing their depleted incomes by actively considering what other uses parts of their farms could be put to. The NFU are in favour of the use of renewable energy and see wind farming, and other types of renewable energy such as energy crops, as an opportunity for farmers."

The Government has set a target of 10% of electricity generation in the UK from renewable energy sources by 2010, with a halfway mark of 5% by 2003. It is widely acknowledged that wind is the most viable of the renewables technologies and farmers are set to directly benefit from the projects that will be built across the UK to meet these targets. 40% of the wind resource in Europe is found sweeping over the hills and dales of Britain, yet only a fraction of our electricity is currently produced from this renewable and entirely sustainable source of energy.

The effect of wind turbines on even prime agricultural lands is negligible with only 1% of land use required to house turbines. Farming continues up to the base of towers and related buildings, leaving the vast majority of the land available for agricultural purposes.

Wind energy developers estimate that landowners can expect between £1000 and £3000 in annual payments per turbine, a payment which is index-linked and could well provide the farming industry with a total additional income of more than £100 million over the next twenty years.

Sheep at Dyffryn Brodyn wind farm in Wales

Further more, this rural diversification into more varied and secure enterprises could help protect sensitive landscapes. A potential cause of damage to sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs) is overgrazing, a situation that could be prevented with the further development of wind energy projects which often involve land management schemes in sensitive areas.

Since it's early days landowners and farmers have taken to wind farming as simply another type of harvest, albeit of fresh air, a logical and perhaps necessary adjunct to their conventional businesses. Already farms across the UK see a successful co-existence of agriculture, livestock farming and electricity generation.

Sustainable generation of electricity is now a fundamental government objective; not only will it reduce CO2 emissions and thereby directly help preserve England's green and pleasant lands by reducing the threat of global warming and climate change, it will also enable farmers to be at the forefront of the next generation of power across Europe while providing a much needed income in difficult times.

For further information, please contact the British Wind Energy Association on 020 7689 1960 or press@bwea.com

The Country Landowners Association has developed its own policy on wind generation, and this can be found in their Advisory Handbook 'Wind Farms' available from the publications department of the CLA, 16 Belgrave Square, London, SW1X 8PQ.

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