Farms in Oregon Go Increasingly Off-Grid

The state of Oregon has had a long-standing reputation for green-mindedness, so perhaps it was only a matter of time before news surfaced of its farmers employing renewable energy to power their crops. This Associated Press story from yesterday highlights the increasing frequency with which agriculturalists in the Beaver State have been tapping into clean technologies such as solar or hydroelectric power.

The article features a farm that sustains 40-some dwarf Nigerian goats, a steer, horses, vegetables, chicken and the couple who take care of them completely on a solar panel array and a micro-hydro turbine, as well as an organic vegetable farm that is fully powered by solar panels. Solar incentives such as a hike in Oregon’s state tax credit from 30 to 50 percent, spread over 5 years, as well as a 30 percent federal tax credit, have only helped those who have wished to go solar.

While the article is regrettably lacking in solid calculations or numbers, it’s a good starting point for anyone who’s interested in rural energy self-sufficiency. And though the piece stresses that renewable energy still has a while to go before it can become cost-effective for everyone (just take the example of the farmer who plugged into a hydroelectric turbine in 2001), it makes two things clear: renewable energy makes the most financial sense for those who may find it difficult to connect to the grid, and more and more farms are using clean energy.

No one really knows how many U.S. farms use renewable energy, such as solar photovoltaic panels, hydroelectric generators, and methane digesters. The 2007 Farm Census found 23,451 out of more than 2 million farms — about 1 percent — generated some kind of electricity or energy, but just what that means is unclear. The agency is doing a more detailed count this year.

But indications are that the numbers are rising.

Overall renewable energy production rose 5 percent from 2007 to 2008, according to the Energy Information Administration.

For readers living in Oregon (and regardless of whether you run a farm or not), solar just might make sense. More details on Oregonian solar incentives can found here.