On February 26, 2024, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) launched the Rural and Agricultural Income and Savings from Renewable Energy (RAISE) Initiative. The goal of RAISE is to help farmers reduce costs and increase income through the use of underutilized renewable energy technologies such as distributed wind. Some of the activities will include technical assistance to support Rural Energy for American Program (REAP) applications, funding for research into and outreach on new business models for collaborations of farmers to earn income from distributed wind, funding for a distributed wind Competitiveness Improvement Project (CIP) which will fund technology development and commercialization, a joint educational webinar series from DOE and USDA, and the development of a guide for farmers on distributed wind that will include technical, economic, and geospatial analysis. For more information, see the joint announcement here. The first webinar through RAISE will be held on March 14, 2024 on a new National Distributed Wind Network and Resource Hub. Please register here.