In Georgia, sheep and solar panels coexist

On a vast property in the county of Lee, in the heart of the southwest of Georgia, Tyler Huber raises sheep.

While the herd grazes, the sheep need a place to take a break from the Georgia sun.

“It is incredibly hot, the sun is simply inevitable, and the fact that they have shade every fifteen feet here-it’s just the ideal environment, to have such a close shade,” he said a recent hot day.

The shadow comes from solar panels, using the same relentless sun to generate energy.

The sheep, in turn, reduce mowing costs for the solar farm. The herd likes to repress itself on the vegetation under and around the panels, said Huber.

“If we are able to develop this, which is only a buffet of everything they might wish, they will eat with pleasure,” he said.

Before the Silicon Ranch solar developer buys this ground, he had crops in row – mainly corn and cotton – and hives. Farmers cannot grow corn and cotton under solar panels, but they are always agricultural land for sheep and bees.

Scenes like this are increasingly common because the electricity companies add more and more solar energy to meet the growing demand for renewable electricity. Many of these solar panels are built on agricultural land. The American Farmland Trust, which follows the conversion of agricultural land to other uses, projects that 80% of the area necessary to increase solar energy could be agricultural land. The trend gave birth to a wave of opposition from local activists to the legislatures of the States and to the White House.

But supporters often say agriculture and solar energy can coexist.

Lisa Davis, with the County Chamber of Commerce of Lee, said that the Silicon Ranch project, with its operations of sheep and hives in progress, is different from what many expect when agricultural land is sold or rented to solar companies.

“They envisage in their head that you have these great excavators and that you move everything,” she said. “This is not the case.”

The county in fact made a break from solar development a few years ago for these concerns and asked the Valdosta State University to look at the problem. The resulting study has revealed that the financial benefits for taxpayers prevail over the disadvantages because agricultural land obtain tax relief in Georgia. Farmers pay land taxes on only 40% of the value of their land, but the county can collect full property taxes on the land used for solar energy.

Davis said it can make a huge difference for rural communities.

“They will never accept large manufacturers or many major advertisements,” she said. “So the possibility of having a solar project can mean a lot.”

However, there has been a decline on solar on agricultural land. A bill at the Georgia legislature this year would have eliminated the tax relief of agricultural land for an entire farm if it adds solar energy – even when solar is only on earth. This measure adopted the Georgia House but not the Senate and could still come back next year. Other states, including Ohio and Missouri, have also continued limits to the development of the solar farm.

The Trump administration also said that it wanted to “disincitate” solar development on agricultural land.

The loss of agricultural land is a major concern according to AFT, which estimates that 2,000 acres of agricultural land is lost in non -agricultural uses each day. But in Georgia at least, the group said that solar energy was not the main culprit.

“A large part of what we see in terms of pressure on agricultural land into Georgia is in fact due to low density residential development,” said Mallory O’Steen, director of South East Senior Programs for AFT.

There are real concerns about solar energy, she said.

It can increase the price of the land. The Silicon Ranch recently reached a settlement with farmers who claimed another of its Georgia facilities, it in Stewart County, caused runoff on their land. Last year, quoting concerns about the effects on fauna, the Council of Houston County Commissioners voted against the authorization of a large solar farm.

But, said O’Steen, there are also advantages. The use of part of their land for solar energy can guarantee farmers a critical income even when the weather or the disease wipes crops, for example.

The key, said O’Steen, is that political decision -makers guide solar development in a manner that balances energy needs with the interests of farmers.