With the credit for small wind energy property expiring at the end of the year, Farm Bureau is urging Congress to act on a bill that would keep the credit active through 2021. The Technologies for Energy Security Act (H.R. 5167) would extend the current 30 percent tax credit for small wind energy property through 2019. The credit would then be 26 percent for 2020 and 22 percent for 2021.

"Small wind generators produce clean, emissions-free power for individual homes, farms and small businesses. Using this increasingly popular technology, farmers and ranchers can generate their own power, reduce their energy bills and help to protect the environment," American Farm Bureau Federation wrote recently to the bill's sponsors, Reps. Tom Reed (R-N.Y), Patrick Meehan (R-Pa.), Mike Thompson (D-Calif.) and Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.).

The Technologies for Energy Security Act would also extend tax incentives for solar energy, fuel cells, microturbines and thermal energy.