Before the era of relatively cheap central-station electricity. wind turbines were in common use on US farms. particularly for pumping water. The dramatic increase in conventional energy prices, together with reduced supply reliability, has generated a new interest in on-farm wind systems in the United States. The US Departments of Agriculture (USDA) and Energy (DOE) have been funding research directed toward wind energy applications in farm uses, including irrigation, food processing. space heating, apple cooling and storage. and crop drying. This analysis is based on USDAIDOE-sponsored research conducted in 1979–80, and also incorporates the results of some later research. On-farm grain dryers and their energy requirements are described, and the energy output and cost of selected small wind systems are estimated. Life cycle cost analyses are performed to determine economic feasibility.