Velva Windfarm

July 12, 2009

This is the scene from the dining room and living room of Lyle and Liz Hendrickson ‘s house on North Highway 41, just a few miles north of Velva. The yellow field is cannola which is grown a lot in these parts. There is a cannola factory in Velva which converts the plant into cannola oil.

The 18 windmills on the horizon (not all of them in view) generate electricity. There are three blades 90’ long on each windmill, which is about 240 feet high. The shaft of the windmill is hollow and flexible and bends with the wind which can be very strong on the prairies. The windmills are computer controlled and can be turned to face the wind. The computers can also regulate the speed of ther windmills.

We were told that the farmer who leases his land for a windmill gets $6,000 per year land rent, plus a royalty off the sale of electricity. So the farmer here is getting $108,000 plus royalties. Renting the land for windmills does not take the land our of crop production; the farmer can plant and harvest crops if he so desires.