Cliff:
The first thing farmers want to know is : "well ,how much is it going to cost me ?", it costs them nothing. "What's it going to hurt?", Three to five percent of your farmland is all it's going to take up, you can do what you want to with the rest of it .
Then it came down to, "well, how much money is this going to make me ? " .
Narrator :
Cliff did his research and checked his numbers with wind experts and the farm Bureau.
Cliff :
Then I was able to go to our landowners Association and show them, where they had been receiving 35 to 40 ,dollars an acre, then the landowners could expect somewhere in the neighborhood of three times that.
Narrator :
In fact, farmers stand to make 10 to 15 thousand dollars a year , per turbine, just from leasing the wind rights.
Cliff :
There was no guarantees in it from the very beginning. but sure enough we've got I think in the neighborhood of 95 or more percent of our area that accepted the wind farm.
Narrator :
In both Samso and west Texas, individuals saw economic benefits. But the whole community beyond the investors and land-owners , benefited too.