Mandi & John Etter: Chariton, Iowa

“Farming has always been cyclic and risky. Lately, the bad years are greatly outweighing the good years. John and I haven’t had a good year farming in almost 8 years. Most small farms have at least one off-farm income and are still struggling.

It’s been very stressful on our family. We are literally using off-farm income to pay for the privilege to farm. So when we learned about the possibility of leasing some of our land to a community solar project, it seemed like a no-brainer for us.

It’s good income, doesn’t require additional labor, and it improves the economy and environment. If approved, community solar will save our livelihood and farming legacy.

It will allow us to pass on a profitable farm to our children, and we can retire or die knowing that they won’t be drowning in our debt.

It will also make it possible for my husband to be home more, instead of being out on the road 5 days a week trucking 14-hour days to keep everything afloat.

Family is everything to us, and this will help our family.”