Planting renewables.

• Author: Wood, Suzanne
• Position: CASH CROP

Leases for solar and wind farms pay better than those for crops. That makes them an easy pick for farmland owners.

Farmers form strong ties to their land, especially parcels that have remained in one family for generations. So they search for income to ensure its upkeep. Some lease land to other farmers. Others try agritourism, inviting the public to experience their farms through fee-based activities ranging from pumpkin picking to weddings. A growing number are leasing to companies that install solar or wind farms.

Helen Livingston and her brother Tom own a 300-acre farm in Robeson County. Helen says it has been in their family "longer than we can trace." So she was intrigued when Charlotte-based Birdseye Renewable Energy LLC, which has developed more than 400 megawatts of solar in North Carolina and Tennessee, approached her about leasing acreage to Chapel Hill-based Strata Solar LLC. Its 1 gigawatt of installed solar capacity, with 3 more on the way, makes it one of the country's top five solar providers. The best land for solar farms is flat and less than a mile from a power substation, says Jackson Naftel, Strata's director of development. Once the company and landowner sign a contract, he says the process--from seeking N.C. Utility Commission approval to generating power --takes 18 months to three years.

Last year, 47 acres of Livingston land that was once planted with cotton began producing 5 megawatts of electricity from a solar array. Charlotte-based Duke Energy Corp. buys the power from Strata, who pays the Livingstons. While contracts vary, solar leases can earn landowners from $500 to $800 per acre annually, compared to about $100 per acre for crops. And Strata must restore the land for agriculture if a lease is not renewed.

Helen says the revenue ensures the next generation of Livingstons will have the farm. But equally important to her is the opportunity to be a solar pioneer. "For us, the excitement is about bringing solar to the area. I think that solar is here to stay."

Family farms aren't the only landowners reaping rewards from hosting solar and wind projects. First Baptist Church of Mount Olive received 80 acres of farmland from devoted congregant James Everette Joyner in 2003. Its trustees were tasked with protecting it while deriving benefit for the church. Birdseye contacted them in 2011, proposing a solar-farm lease. Like the Livingston family, church trustees were receptive to the idea after hearing its bottom...