Cautious farmers embrace renewable energy to boost income streams

Farmers who have long been wary of hosting renewable energy on their land are showing signs of warming to the idea, as government incentives and economic benefits start to chip away at old scepticism.

Renewable energy advocates hope continued education, along with grants and other financial incentives, will encourage more farmers to embrace renewable projects.

Energy experts say there is plenty of room for farms to grow their income from renewables or use them to power their own operations.

Bridget Johnson, whose family breeds cattle across two properties in South Australia's Upper South East, has signed up to a wind project planned for the Willalooka district, hoping to diversify her family's income.

It was not a decision the Johnsons took lightly, with the whole family needing to come to a consensus. 

"I think it's easy to make a decision based on perception or bias, and for us it was really important to have facts and information," Ms Johnson said. 

Diversified income stream for farmers

The research they did changed how the family viewed the project, with the positives for the project outweighing the negatives.

"It is something that is compatible with beef farming and the program that we run,"

Ms Johnson said.

She said having an additional revenue stream in agriculture that was not dependent on traditional climatic and market drivers was something the Johnsons saw as a sustainable model for their business and family moving forward.

"Most farmers will absolutely appreciate having a recurring income that's not tied to the rain or to the price at the sale yards or the price that you're receiving for your livestock," she said.

"It's an exceptionally important part of our business going forward."

The company behind the project, Voyager Renewables, is consulting with landholders before it undertakes studies on how the project can affect land and groundwater. 

These impacts can often be the sticking point for farmers.

"It's a little bit of a chicken and egg,"

Voyager's development director Dean Smith said.

"Do we go very early with very little information, or do we go later in the process with lots of information?"

Closing the renewable communication gap

University of Southern Queensland senior lecturer in electrical and electronic engineering Md Alamgir Hossain had observed growing interest from farmers in smaller-scale renewables, where the benefits were clearer and the impact on the land was smaller. 

Dr Hossain said the larger projects were a tougher sell.

"The majority of them probably are anti-renewable energy infrastructure such as the big transmission line or a commercial-scale wind farm," he said.

Dr Hossain said the key to winning farmers over was being up-front about the impact renewables could have on the land, including whether new roads, power lines and other physical infrastructure would need to be installed.

"There is a communication gap. We need transparency, and we need clear engagement with the farmer so that we can convey the evidence-based support," he said.

"We can consult with them so that daily operation of the farming is not hampered or less hampered."

Earlier this year, the federal government expanded the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES), a move Dr Hossain believed would encourage farmers to consider larger renewable projects on their properties.

"For the medium farms, this is the opportunity for them to install or to observe how renewable energy can give benefits on their farm to electrifying the current machineries or stationary equipment," he said.

"At the same time, they are going toward more energy independence."