Behind the Lines - JuneJuly 2009
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Innovation and cost-saving are hallmarks that define modern agriculture. So, too, unfortunately, is a low rate of return expected on the investment to make these things happen.
That's also the way it is with wind turbines. Farmers are eager to increase their independence and reduce their power input costs, and turbines operating on their farms are seen as a way to do that, even if it will take more than 10 years to get their money back.
But is even that low rate of return realistic? Not always, as writer Don Stoneman explains in this issue's cover story, best described as a cautionary tale.
Some things became clear while he was researching this topic. First, what goes around, comes around. A century ago, windmills were a major source of power on Ontario farms.
Modern power generation using the wind is new nearly everywhere, and still under development. Those taking part in this windmill renaissance are entering a brave new world. Not everyone in rural Ontario is in a position to take advantage. Not all technologies are equal.
Connecting to the grid isn't the only challenge. The cost of "hooking up" isn't cheap; even a turbine capable of supplying power to a small to medium-sized farm operation with livestock is an investment of better than $100,000.
On the dairy front, writer Susan Mann has discovered that the obstacles to startups in that industry haven't deterred some aspiring new entrants. For a look at how a new lottery will help some deal with one of these obstacles – availability of quota – see our story on page 20. For the latest on the Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Appeal Tribunal hearing on dairy quota transfer that has been going on since February, visit the Breaking News section of our website www.betterfarming.com
And still on the subject of hearings, as this issue was going to press, we received word of a decision from an Ontario Municipal Board hearing we reported on in our April issue.
An interim control bylaw enacted by the Township of East Hawkesbury to halt construction of a solar farm has been repealed. The written decision had some interesting observations on the communications patterns between the parties and it offers some insight on the important issue of the use of prime farmland for alternative energy projects.
On our website, betterfarming.com, we were first to report this outcome and within our report you'll find a link to the complete OMB decision. BF
Robert Irwin & Don Stoneman