Energy: Oklahoma's Cash Crop

As a farm and rancher, I know the risks and costs of agriculture because I live them.

When you plant in the fall, you pray the price will hold by the time harvest comes. Every season is a gamble — one that depends on rain, input costs, and a market that doesn’t care how hard you’ve worked. When a calf hits the ground, it might be close to a year before a rancher ever sees a dollar — and in the meantime, that calf still has to be fed, watered, and cared for every single day. And with a single tweet, the market can fall the limit in a matter of hours.

With nearly three-quarters of Oklahoma’s land tied to agriculture, it’s fair to ask — how do we survive the ups and downs?

The answer, for generations, has been energy.

Oil and gas helped our parents and grandparents balance the books and keep family operations alive through the tough years. And while oil remains a commodity, renewables have brought something brand new to the table: certainty.

Wind and solar leases give landowners a dependable income — a check that shows up rain or shine, boom or bust. That steady stream gives our rural bankers confidence, and it gives our families a fighting chance to stay on the land.

In a perfect world, no farmer or rancher would need outside income to make it. But we don’t live in a perfect world. The truth is, energy — both traditional and renewable — has long been the backbone that keeps rural America standing.

by Destinee Weeks, Development Director and Proud Oklahoma Landowner