Our modern world has presented us with a bounty of new words and phrases, including Solar Grazing. If you’ve never heard of it, you’re probably imagining people standing around, soaking in the sunlight like they’re members of a sun-worshiping cult. The truth is much cuddlier.
It describes the process of populating land used by solar power farms with sheep so they can graze on the grass as an all-natural, eco-friendly alternative to gas-powered lawnmowers. The sheep get to eat, and solar farms don’t get overgrown. It’s a win-win.
The solar industry has exploded across the country, with states like Texas, with its large expanses of open land, grand vistas, and intense sunshine, providing a perfect home for the collection of solar energy.
The state’s use of sheep to keep solar fields tidy isn’t just a clever move to better align the state with its energy goals, either. The Texas sheep and wool market has also been struggling in recent years. The number of sheep and lamb in Texas dropped four percent between 2023 and 2024. Giving sheep and lamb free rein to graze on solar fields allows livestock farmers and solar farmers to work at the same time on the same property rather than fighting for space.
The Associated Press spoke with a Texas sheepherder by the name of JR Howard who, in 2021, started contacting solar farms to see if they would allow his sheep on their land to eat the grass. Now, his once-small family business has 26 employees — 8,026 if you count the sheep. His business, Texas Solar Sheep, is expanding so rapidly that he’s about to add 20 more (human) employees to his workforce.
The harmonious use of land for both solar energy and agriculture is called agrivoltaics still has some knowledge gaps to be filled in. For instance, we don’t yet know the effects of solar farming on soil and the future agricultural use of that land.
For now, though, the shock of finding out a solar field is coming to your town has been softened a little knowing that a win-win situation benefitting both local livestock farmers and solar energy farmers is not only possible, it’s happening all around the world.
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