Friday, May 14, 2021
CapitalPress.com 9
NW solar, wind developments could impact vast swaths of ag land
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
Up to 146,000 acres of
the Northwest — much of
it farmland — could be con-
verted to solar production by
2050, according to a recent
study.
In addition, wind power
production could directly
impact nearly 8,800 acres.
The American Farm-
land Trust used National
Renewable Energy Lab data
to study several scenarios,
said Addie Candib, Pacific
Northwest regional director
for the trust. AFT is a non-
profit that works to protect
and conserve farmland.
The cost of solar develop-
ments will impact the num-
ber and size of them, Candib
said. The lower the cost, the
bigger the developments.
The AFT projects solar
developments will be built
on a maximum of 42,000
acres in Idaho; 75,000 acres
in Oregon and 29,000 acres
in Washington.
Land used for wind
power developments is split
into two categories, direct
permanent impact and total
area impact.
Direct impact is the land
area altered by wind energy
development. The total
impacted area is defined as
the entire footprint of a wind
farm.
Using the lowest-cost
scenario, the direct impact
of wind generation would
be 953 acres in Idaho; 5,600
acres in Oregon and 2,755
acres in Washington, accord-
ing to AFT.
The estimated total area
impacted by wind farms
is 953,000 acres in Idaho;
5.6 million acres in Oregon
and nearly 306,000 acres in
Washington.
The numbers reflect
the projections for all land
expected to be converted to
solar or wind by 2050, not
necessarily just agricultural
land.
Agricultural land, how-
ever, stands to be dispro-
portionately impacted by
energy development because
it is typically flat and easy to
build on, Candib said.
Those projections don’t
“sound like a lot,” Candib
said, but Washington lost
about 90,000 acres of ag
land from 2000 at 2016 to all
uses, including urban devel-
opment and low-density res-
idential development.
“Assuming we stay on
the track that we’re on ...
you’re tacking on an addi-
tional 20 to 30%,” she said.
“It is concerning.”
Land can be leased to
solar or wind developers for
more than it can be leased
for agriculture, so landown-
ers may be tempted to con-
sider energy developments,
Candib said.
She used the example
of solar leases on Washing-
ton Department of Natu-
ral Resources-owned land,
which can bring in as much
as $300 per acre, while graz-
Washington proviso a ‘game-changer’
for wind and solar development
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
The size of solar and wind power developments will
likely depend on the cost of building and operating
them, according to the American Farmland Trust.
ing leases bring in $2 to $3
per acre.
“So there’s a significant
financial incentive for DNR
to lease to solar developers,”
Candib said.
Several power develop-
ments are underway in the
Northwest.
One in southern Idaho
would cover roughly 1,000
acres.
In Oregon, about 31,000
acres are slated for solar
projects, 48,000 acres for
wind projects and 62,000
acres for combined wind
and solar projects under the
state’s jurisdiction.
The Washington Utilities
and Transportation Com-
mission lists up to 13,342
acres slated for solar and
wind projects.
Numerous other wind
and solar projects have been
approved or constructed at
the county level, represen-
tatives of the state agencies
say.
The AFT supports renew-
able energy development
and investing in technology
to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions, Candib said, but
it also recognizes the impor-
tance of food production and
the community, economic
and environmental benefits
of agriculture.
“There are paths forward
to develop renewable energy
that doesn’t compromise our
best agricultural land, but it
requires some intentional
planning and policy mak-
ing,” she said.
The organization recom-
mends building solar devel-
opment on marginal land or
land that won’t compromise
or displace agriculture.
Agricultural stakeholders, tribes and wildlife advo-
cates in California’s San Joaquin Valley worked together
to find appropriate sites for solar development.
American Farmland Trust, which works to protect
farmland across the West, advocates a similar “least con-
flict” process in the Columbia Basin as more solar devel-
opments are planned.
The Washington Legislature has approved a $500,000
proviso for Washington State University to lead that
process.
Addie Candib, Pacific Northwest regional director for
the organization, calls the move a “game-changer.”
“It is possible for us to have it all,” she said. “It’s pos-
sible for us to build the renewable energy we need, to
achieve our greenhouse gas emissions goals, while also
protecting our most productive and versatile farmland.”
Prime farmland should
be protected, she said.
If solar projects are pro-
posed for prime soils, she
said they should be dual
use, in which solar panels
are installed in a way that
allows agriculture such as
livestock grazing around
them.
“Solar projects on farm-
land should be farmer-led
and developed in partner-
ship with the agricultural
community,” she said.
In theory, solar land can
be mitigated and returned to
agriculture when the life of
a solar project ends, Candib
said.
“That said, I don’t think
we have a lot of examples
even to look at to see what
does it look like for that
solar energy to be removed
and (the land) returned to
ag production successfully,”
she said.
Taking land out of ag
production can have “rip-
ple effects” in the farm com-
munity and economy, Can-
dib said.
“Thirty years from now,
you could take the solar
panels off and make it open
space again, but is there still
a farmer who wants to farm
it? Are there still farm retail-
ers available to support that
business? Is there still a mar-
ketplace for the products
they’re going to grow?” she
said.
Researchers seek farmers to experiment with buckwheat
nate, meaning it will keep
growing, with ripe seeds
as it still blooms. Martens
swathes the crop, which he
recommends.
Martens used buckwheat
to break up a root disease
and nematode complex that
had built up after several
years of raising dry beans.
“We don’t grow it because
we’re going to make a lot
of money on this one crop,”
he said of buckwheat. “We
grow it because it will make
our system stronger, more
resilient and overall more
profitable.”
The Washington Grain
Commission recommends not
following buckwheat with a
wheat crop, due to concerns
about volunteer plants in the
following wheat crop, com-
mission CEO Glen Squires
said.
Rachel Breslauer/WSU
Washington State University researchers are looking
for farmers with more than 20 acres to experiment with
buckwheat.
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IT’S WHAT WE
Washington researchers
are seeking growers inter-
ested in experimenting with
buckwheat on their farms.
Buckwheat is a “cash
crop, cover crop and some-
thing in between,” said
Rachel Breslauer, a graduate
student in Washington State
University’s sustainable seed
systems laboratory.
“Not only will you be
able to actually experience a
new crop and have some of
the wiggle room to try some-
thing new with the support of
this project, you’ll be able to
get connected with potential
buyers and start to develop
your own marketing for this
crop if you end up really lik-
ing it,” she said.
Breslauer spoke during
the recent Grains Week,
sponsored by Cascadia
Grains, the Culinary Breed-
ing Network and WSU’s
food systems program,
among others.
Common
buckwheat
is the variety most often
grown. Products are made
from the groats, which are
the de-hulled seeds. Toasted
groats are called kasha,
which can be boiled and used
in porridge, ground into grits
or milled into flour.
Most buckwheat seed pro-
duction is in North Dakota,
with 11,700 acres; Washing-
ton, with 6,200 acres; and
Minnesota, with 2,900 acres.
All buckwheat seed pro-
duction in Washington is
concentrated in the central
region and is grown in rota-
tion with potatoes.
Farmers use buckwheat
as a cover crop to provide a
canopy to suppress weeds.
Its flowers attract pollinators
and provide phosphorus for
following crops.
Most commercial buck-
wheat production is under
contract, Breslauer said. If a
farmer wants to raise buck-
wheat without a contract, the
options are limited.
Contract prices can vary
from $10 to $15 per bushel,
about 50 pounds, and yields
can range from 750 to 1,200
pounds or higher per acre,
Breslauer said.
WSU’s More Bang For
Your Buckwheat Project is
considering potential trade-
offs between growing it as a
cash crop or cover crop, with
trials for two years in west-
ern Washington. They’ll sur-
vey farmers who raise buck-
wheat on a commercial scale,
more than 20 acres.
The university’s Diver-
sifying Northwestern Fields
and Palates project includes
buckwheat as it works to
connect farmers with proces-
sors and consumers.
“After growing one crop
of buckwheat, a whole host
of weeds just seem to go
away for a while,” said Klaas
Martens, a Penn Yan, N.Y.,
organic grain farmer. “Quack-
grass is one it’s especially
hard on.”
Frustrations
growing
buckwheat include the fact
that the crop is indetermi-
CONFIDENCE
IMPART
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
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