The agricultural, economic and environmental potential of co-locating utility scale solar with grazing sheep
In a preliminary investigation into the co-location of renewable solar energy and sheep grazing, a 22-acre solar site in Aurora, NY was grazed with a flock of 56 sheep. Findings suggest that sheep grazing is a viable approach to vegetation management, contributing significant increases to farm income and financial viability.
Kochendoerfer, N., A. Hain, and M. Thonney. 2019. The agricultural, economic and environmental potential of co-locating utility scale solar with grazing sheep. Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.
Grazing Sheep on Solar Sites in New York State: Opportunities and Challenges. Scope and scaling-up of the NYS sheep industry to graze ground-mounted photovoltaic arrays for vegetation management
Conclusions
The development of DSE (1 to 20 MW) and USSE facilities (>20 MW) will occur simultaneously, not offering the opportunity for a gradual scaling up of flocks for vegetation management. Entrepreneurs have opportunities to circumvent solar grazing barriers. If the slaughterhouse capacity in NY does not increase to meet increasing demand of locally produced meat, there are opportunities to sell large quantities of live lambs to regional markets in PA and MI. If solar sites are located at distances from sheep farming enterprises, livestock trucking businesses can be engaged to transport sheep among solar sites, helping to limit the travel requirements for sheep farmers, and local flock managers can be hired. Both Cornell Cooperative Extension and veterinary services could be barriers in the short term, but they may expand with and provide the necessary expertise to sustain a scaling up of the sheep industry. New business ventures and cooperatives may be created among sheep farming entrepreneurs to service large USSE facilities. Changing land-use from agriculture to solar sites could cause increases in GHG emissions and carbon leakage (cascading spill-over effects leading to emission reductions in some counties and states offset by an increase in others). Therefore, developers and communities should be encouraged to site solar installations on pasture, underutilized, and marginal land. Solar grazing provides an opportunity for growth of the NY sheep industry. Expansion of related services and businesses are needed to support the numerous benefits of this emerging industry.
Kochendoerfer, N. and Thonney, M. L. 2021. Grazing Sheep on Solar Sites in New York State: Opportunities and Challenges. Scope and scaling-up of the NYS sheep industry to graze ground-mounted photovoltaic arrays for vegetation management [White paper]. Cornell University Department of Animal Science, Ithaca, NY. https://blogs.cornell.edu/grazing/files/2021/02/Solar-Site-Sheep-Grazing-in-NY-v2.1.pdf