Wyoming Approves Massive 1,000 Wind Turbine Project

Jul 03, 2012

Chokecherry and Sierra Madre Wind Farm Gets Stamp of Approval

Over the past decade, agriculture has developed a number of green energy sources including biodiesel, ethanol, solar power and most notably wind power.

Agriculture in the United States is seeing a boom with the creation of wind energy projects sprawling up in the countryside. One such project is becoming an attention seeker - Chokecherry and Sierra Madre wind farm located in Wyoming is proposed to have a whopping 1,000 turbines. The project is expected to generate enough electricity for 1 million homes, producing 2,500 megawatts of electrical power which is the equivalent of a large scale coal facility.

The project is in the midst of the proposal process, clearing its final environmental review and receiving the stamp of approval from the Bureau of Land Management.

In the era of the Kyoto Accord, the phrase of a ‘one ton challenge’ is a challenge for consumers to reduce their carbon emissions by one ton per year. The Chokecherry and Sierra Madre wind project has the potential of meeting the ‘one ton challenge’ for the people of Wyoming - a population 568,000 with ease. You could also add the populations of neighbouring states South Dakota 824,000, Nebraska 1,842,000, Idaho 1,584,000, Utah 2,817,000 and most of Colorado 5,116,000 – and the wind project would meet the challenge for most of these neighbours as well.

From an agricultural perspective, it’s vital that agriculture producers understand the needs of the consumer whether they demand local foods, organic, or in this case green energy.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.