Today, they’re as common an agricultural backdrop as corn in Mower County, and the goal is to make them as plentiful.

Wind farms, such as the 100-megawatt undertaking recently completed near Dexter, are sprouting countywide, reaping economic and environmental benefits across the region and the nation.

“Clean energy is supported by over 90 percent of the population, so hopefully we are doing something right,” said Mark Rathbun, renewables manager for Great River Energy, who detailed the local 61-turbine project, as well as the general significance of wind, to a group of cooperative members Thursday just outside the farm site.

“Every decision we make we have to consider these three things: reliable service, competitive rates and keeping in harmony with the environment,” Rathbun said, adding that the economic windfall of the farm could result in $400,000 in local tax revenues, not to mention lease payments to partnering farmers and sustainable jobs for dozens of people.

“So it’s great for the economic benefit for the area when the wind farm comes in,” he said.

The Prairie Start Wind Farm, established through the efforts of Horizon Energy and Great River Energy, could provide electricity to about 36,000 Minnesota homes through substations statewide.

Rathbun said the wind project, one of several already established or in progress in Mower County, stretches about 12 miles east to west and six miles north to south and took about eight months start to finish to install.

While guaranteeing important economic effects, the farm also supports environmental policy goals in the state, particularly its renewable energy standard, which seeks to draw 25 percent of electricity from renewable energy by the year 2025.

“We’re ahead of the interim goals, but we have a lot of work to do,” he said.

To meet the standards, Minnesota must build 1000 megawatts more in turbines by 2025, an endeavor not impossible, according to Rathbun.

“Minnesota has a great wind resource. We’re bless compared to other states, particularly in the southeast,” he said, noting that right now, Minnesota ranks ninth in the nation for wind capacity, and third, behind Texas and California, for installation.

In Mower County alone, California-based enXco and Minnesota’s Excel Energy are establishing a 100-megawatt farm to the south of Interstate 90 near Dexter, and Horizon Energy operations manager Kevin Clark said the pair will likely build another near the same location to the north sometime next year.

Clark added that, nationwide, the U.S. could garner 20 percent of its energy from wind by 2030, if Department of Energy calculations hold true, bringing 150,000 jobs in the wind sector alone and $1.5 billion on annual tax revenues to communities.

“It’s definitely growing and growing at a great rate,” he said.

And while wind is their business, Rathbun also emphasized the important role humankind plays in effective energy usage.

“Renewable energy is great, but it’s not our first choice. It’s our second choice,” he said. “Conservation is our first choice.”