A lot of the time I write on what needs to happen, on the lack of action being taken across the world, and how it is that, without said action, we’re all going to H-E-double-hockey-sticks in a hand basket. This time, I get to write about people who have already done something, and how maybe we can follow in their steps.

An Associated Press article tells of a farmer from Creston, Iowa, who has finally found a use for the strong winds that have always swept across his open farm land. Joe Weisshaar is the farmer, and he is one of many farmers taking the initiative to help stem the tide of rising prices.

"It’s always been windy here," says Brian Zachary, Weisshaar’s son-in-law and next-door neighbor. "It’s a resource that’s just been slipping away."

The energy prices which are beginning to rise planetwide have begun to affect the farmers, long before it will get to crunch time for the rest of us. Many of those small farms, the first to be affected, are trying to cut their requirements by turning to biodiesel fuel, wind turbines and more efficient tilling practices.

This not only helps the farmers cut their costs, but it reduces their environmental impact as well. And while not a set of new practices, they are now becoming more and more necessary.

But for Joe, he only managed to step through the murky world of paperwork and federal funding, with the help of his son in law, Brian, who has skill in grant writing. Once again, the government is simply not making it easy enough for people to cut costs and environmental imprint.

"I started going to a bunch of seminars, trying to figure out how to do this. But I was going no place," said Weisshaar Snr.

Erecting a wind turbine halfway between his house and his daughter’s house next door has elevated Joe to status of local hero. Passers-by randomly drop in, having noticed the giant construction from the road, to congratulate and investigate.

"They see it and they’re excited about it," said Mary Jane Weisshaar, Joe’s wife. "A lot of people pull into the driveway and they say ‘I’ve wanted to do something like that.’ But they don’t have a clue."

The best thing for the Weisshaar’s is that the turbine produces enough energy at times that they are able to bank up the excess for the less windy months of the year. If necessary, they would also be able to sell their energy back to the electricity company, but Weisshar, it’s more economically feasible to hold on to the excess.

The other way I mentioned that these farmers are helping cut the cost and helping the environment is their fuels. Biodiesel fuel is cheaper to acquire and burns more cleanly than gas. In addition, the fact that they can make it themselves reduces the stress of having to worry about tomorrow’s gas prices.

"We all know we’re on a razor’s edge with oil supply and refining capacity," said Steve Fugate, an Iowa-based energy consultant. "It won’t take a lot, something catastrophic happening, and then it’s not crazy to suggest oil prices might double."

Fugate, among other duties, helps run the Yoderville Co-op in Iowa, which allows farmers in the region to pool their resources and share equipment in the making of biodiesel fuel. Other methods, much less extravagant methods, of saving fuel and environmental impact is simply minimizing the amount of trips one needs to make to plow a field.

Sadly, at the moment, the government is simply not doing enough to help. The Weisshaars’ turbine set them back $140,000, of which only $29,000 was covered by their approved U.S. Department of Agriculture grant.

They don’t expect to see a full pay off for another 10 to 15 years, but with ballooning energy costs, they wouldn’t be surprised to see that number drop as well.

MSNBC - More farmers harvesting wind, biodiesel

photo by Dirk Ingo Franke.
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