In rural Texas, solar farms are adopting a unique approach to managing vegetation by employing sheep to graze the land. SB Energy's large-scale solar project in Milam County, capable of generating 900 megawatts across 4,000 acres, utilizes around 3,000 sheep for maintenance. This practice, known as solar grazing, is part of the agrivoltaics trend where land is shared for solar energy and agriculture, helping decrease reliance on gas-powered mowers, which are counterproductive to renewable aims.
The integration of sheep into solar farms also supports the local sheep and wool market, which has been facing challenges; sheep and lamb inventory in Texas fell 4% between January 2023 and January 2024. Sheepherder JR Howard and his company, Texas Solar Sheep, have expanded significantly by collaborating with solar farms. Starting in 2021, Howard's operation has grown to over 8,000 sheep and 26 employees, reflecting the positive impact solar grazing has on ranchers. Reid Redden, a sheep farmer, say "solar grazing is probably the biggest opportunity that the sheep industry had in the United States in several generations."
Despite the growth, the agrivoltaics approach requires further research to fully understand its environmental impacts. Assistant professor Nuria Gomez-Casanovas highlights that more questions remain about long-term soil viability and land productivity. Still, preliminary findings suggest that solar farms might enhance sheep productivity while potentially being more cost-effective than traditional mowing.
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Word count: 248 words (This story was generated by Newser's AI chatbot. Source: the AP)
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