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Farm Bureau members concerned about farmland being displaced by green energy
Green energy projects infringing on farmland is a concern among American Farm Bureau members gathering at their annual convention this week in San Antonio.
Ohio Farm Bureau president Bill Patterson says land is being devoured by green energy.
“There’s a balance, right. And we’re trying to find the balance and trying to figure out how to meet the energy needs of a nation while meeting the food needs of a nation. So that’s a big part of where we’re at and a big part of what we want to speak to on the floor.”
He tells Brownfield there needs to be a way to properly value farmland when subsidizing solar installations.
“There needs to be something, today there’s not. And we just simply have to create that balance.”
And Patterson says it’s not just solar.
“We have wind that’s in certain areas, particularly as you look at northwest Ohio, a lot of wind.”
He says Ohio Farm Bureau is also concerned about urban sprawl.