Onshore wind could provide a long-term income stream alongside agricultural production for farmers, says a new report.
Defra’s latest data forecasts to see average farm business income fall in 2025/26 across most farm types in England. Cereal farms are forecast to see average income fall by two thirds to £17,000, while general cropping farms are forecast to income halve to £54,000.
Defra attributes the changes to factors including lower crop output and reductions to the delinked Basic Payment.
A report by renewable energy specialist Caeli says farmers are now increasingly looking at how diversified income streams can strengthen the long-term resilience of their businesses. Onshore wind has returned to the agenda following the removal of England’s de facto planning ban in July 2024.
Hans-Georg von Lewinski, Managing Director at Caeli UK, said: “Onshore wind is a particularly interesting option because energy generation and agricultural production do not necessarily need to be mutually exclusive. Turbines and associated infrastructure occupy part of a site, but farming can generally continue across much of the surrounding land.
“That gives us an opportunity to think differently about how land contributes to both food and energy security.”
The Government subsequently published its Onshore Wind Taskforce Strategy, setting out plans to unlock 27–29GW of onshore wind capacity across the country by 2030.
Caeli does however caution that not every farm will offer a viable wind opportunity.
Wind resource, grid access, planning constraints, environmental considerations, access and the existing agricultural use of the site all need to be considered before a potential development can progress.
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