Windmills at Sunset (photo by Dan Tombs, courtesy of morguefile.com)

Missouri is nicknamed the “Show Me State" and droves of visitors want an up-close look at the twenty-seven wind turbines going strong on the Bluegrass Ridge Wind Farm in King City. As our friends at American Farmland Trust have pointed out, “Wind farms are just one way farmers are simultaneously helping to solve our energy needs while providing farms with a new source of income.”

“Busloads of senior citizens and school children from Kansas City and the surrounding area have already made trips to King City…a small town with only two restaurants,” according to an article in the High Plains Midwest AG Journal. The power generated by the wind turbines on the Bluegrass Ridge Wind Farm “is enough electricity for 20,000 average-size homes. The Journal reports that according to Gentry County Treasurer Linda Combs, the wind farm brought in $585,922 in additional tax dollars to be used for local schools and infrastructure improvements. The needed maintenance of the wind generators has created eleven full-time jobs. The article goes on to say that, “On the average, landowners receive $3,000 a year for each tower on their property.”

Interest from visitors traveling to see the wind turbines has been so high that a local group of residents has applied for a grant to build a wind farm education center.

If you’d like to read the article in the High Plains Midwest AG Journal cited above go to: Visitors center planned for Missouri wind farm

To view previous posts on the topic go to:
1. Texas Winds Are Reaping Energy & Jobs
2. Suburban Homeowners Turn to Wind Power
3. Greening the Rust Belt
4. An Ancient Idea

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