Wind Farms Could Aid Farm Crop Production

[Rick Rowlands]

Yes, America WILL be better off if it SURVIVES, and that survival is in doubt if we keep spending money like crazy.

[irishbobcat]

Ok, just believe the narrow-closed minds of neo-cons like Rick and Dan.....

Yup, America will be better off listening to these two .....

[Rick Rowlands]

I still don't see the need to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to study something that may or may not have a negligible effect.  What good would come from knowing this information?  How much economic activity is required to generate the money to pay for the study?  The bottomless pool of government money has dried up.  We're looking at the start of a new dark ages if we default on our obligations and the world economy really collapses.  Time to step back, regroup and pay off some debt.

[irishbobcat]

Again Dan, are you an expert on wind turbines? Have you done such a study?

Or are you just another neo-con naysayer BLOWHARD?

[Dan Moadus]

I know that wind turbines don't blow. But then again.............

[irishbobcat]

Refute my original post, Dan.....are you a farmer? Are you a scientist? What the hell do you know about wind turbines and crop production???

Not a damn thing....so shut the heck up!

[Dan Moadus]

Sorry Dennis, but you don't get off so easy.  You post inane articles that you aren't capable of defending, and when criticized, resort to statements like, "What do you know, Dan....nothing....." or, "Ah, the neo-cons have spoken....pay no attention to  these fools like Dan and Rick, they no not what they are trying to talk about......".  Is that the best you can do?

Clearly you and I subscribe to very different beliefs, and thankfully we live in a society where neither of us can force the other to "shut up". We must compete in the arena of ideas, and defend our positions. I believe your ideas are indefensible, and judging by your childish retorts, they are. You are going to have to start engaging in debate instead of "schoolyard" taunts or become a laughing stock.  Let's see what you got?

[irishbobcat]

What do you know, Dan....nothing.....

[Dan Moadus]

Sorry Dennis, but Rick and I aren't the ones who posted that "excess wind from wind turbines may help crops".  That is by the way though, the funniest thing I have read this year.

[irishbobcat]

Ah, the neo-cons have spoken....pay no attention to  these fools like Dan and Ricky.....

they no not what they are trying to talk about......

[Dan Moadus]

Please excuse Dennis, he thinks wind turbines "blow" instead of being "blown". The professor is of like mind. He talks about the "extra" wind from turbines. Gawd, I hope they don't get out of control, and end up "blowing" a hole in the ozone layer.

[Rick Rowlands]

There is no point to conducting such a study.  Save your money.

[irishbobcat]

Wind Farms Could Aid Farm Crop Production

The wind turbines that have sprouted across rural Iowa in recent years could be beneficial to adjacent corn and soybean fields, according to new research by an Iowa State University scientist.

Gene Takle, an ISU professor of geological and atmospheric science, said it appears turbines may help crops grow healthier and faster by moderating ground level temperatures, blowing away fungi-producing moisture and churning the air to expose plants to more growth-promoting carbon dioxide.




Takle presented the findings last week at a meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco.

"This is an issue no one has raised before," said Takle. "When people do impacts of wind turbines, they think about four things. They think about birds, bats, noise and radar interference. They really don't consider impacts on the environment."

But Takle and University of Colorado researcher Julie Lundquist did just that.

Last summer, Takle collected surface measurements of wind fluctuation, temperature changes and carbon dioxide levels from fields adjacent to turbines, while Lundquist used a special laser to determine that wind turbines create a plume of turbulence that can be measured up to a height of 250 feet and a quarter-mile downwind.

The next step is to design research capable of quantifying any impact the turbines have on crop growth, said Takle, who is also an agriculture meteorology expert with the Ames Laboratory.

Takle said he began looking at whether turbines affect crop growth because of what he already knew about the impacts of shelter belts - rows of trees that farmers plant as wind breaks.

"We anticipate turbines' effects are good in the spring and fall because they would keep the crop a little warmer and help prevent frost" by moving the air at ground level, Takle said.

The air movement should also keep dew from forming, which would limit the amount of time for fungi and toxins to grow on plant leaves, he said.

Finally, the extra turbulence could lift carbon dioxide from the soil and make it easier for crops to absorb more of it, enhancing the plants' ability to perform photosynthesis and grow.

"We anticipate the impact of wind turbines to be subtle," Takle said, except in certain circumstances, such as extreme summer heat. "With a string of 105-degree days, extra wind from wind turbines might be helpful," he said, reducing temperatures below triple digits.

Takle said turbines could also affect crops negatively, and those effects, too, should be explored. For example, he suggested that the extra wind from turbines could be harmful to plants during a drought.

To really know what's going on, he said, there will have to be studies in different types of weather and over time.

Takle's data were collected between June and September. A more thorough study needs to be conducted to see what's happening earlier and later in the growing season, he said.

"The next step is to ask whether these changes that we are now actually measuring are of significant magnitude to actually change plant growth," Takle said. "Will it enhance yield?"

The additional research would include agronomists and other experts.

"This may take some time and effort, but first of all we have to find some funding and see if anybody is interested," Takle said. He said such a study would probably take at least three years and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Some wonder just how much benefit, if any, wind turbines offer farmers and their crops.

Farmer Dave Woodin, whose land along the Pocahontas-Buena Vista county line is near rows of turbines to the west, thinks the machines might be responsible for removing moisture from the sky.

"I swear that when the storm clouds come in summer, the turbines take the energy out of the clouds and that part of the field gets less rain," he said. "When the storm system moves to the east, past the turbines, it seems to put out more rain."