"Supplemental income from 50 wind turbines helps a fourth-generation family ranch stay viable."
"The tall grass prairie of the Flint Hills provides food for cattle and on the Ferrell Ranch, wind to power 50 turbines. The 7,000-acre ranch in Beaumont, Kansas, was started by Pete Ferrell’s great-grandfather in 1888. But ranching is hard work, and success is dependent on the weather, so in the 1920s, Ferrell’s grandfather sold leases to extract and sell oil from the land. Those wells helped the ranch survive years when drought dried up income from the ranching operations.
But now Pete Ferrell is extracting another form of energy: wind. Since 2005, wind turbines have been producing renewable power for the grid and a reliable cash crop for the ranch.
Yale Climate Connections spoke with Ferrell about his ranch and his journey with wind energy."
Bridgett Ennis report for Yale Climate Connections January 17, 2024.
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