Ontario farmers adopt ‘special features’ to counter wind turbine effects

Mark McConnell receiving his award for innovative agricultural practices, including features to counteract wind turbine effects. Photo: Miller Insurance.

January 3, 2022

In a recent edition of Ontario Farmer is a story on state-of-the-art systems being incorporated into farm operations, with a spotlight on an award-winning Kincardine-area farm.

The award was given to the McConnell family’s Dun Rovin Acres farm for adopting “new systems that exemplify best practices in agriculture,” according to the article by Valerie Macdonald.

Among the features added to the McConnell operation are systems to counteract the negative impacts of nearby wind turbines.

In the dairy area, “a new special feature designed to block out the flickering created by wind turbines” the article says. And for the 45,000 chickens in the McConnell operation, “Blocking out the wind turbine flickering is imperative to keep the chickens from bunching up,”  Mr McConnell told Ontario Farmer.

“We’re surrounded by wind turbines,” McConnell said. That’s why even the cow barn’s rear wall has a water wall so that the intermittent flickering doesn’t deter the cows from coming into the milking parlour.

There was no explanation of how much the special features added to counteract wind turbine effects has cost the farm operation.

The article is not available online, but is in the Production section of the December 14th edition of Ontario Farmer.