Worth knowing that the US currently imports 75 percent of our lamb consumption – and with a growing middle eastern population, demand is rising.
Big opportunity for small farmers, a match made in heaven for clean energy and soil.
The booming solar industry has found an unlikely mascot in sheep as large-scale solar farms crop up across the U.S. and in the plain fields of Texas. In Milam County, outside Austin, SB Energy operates the fifth-largest solar project in the country, capable of generating 900 megawatts of power across 4,000 acres (1,618 hectares).
How do they manage all that grass? With the help of about 3,000 sheep, which are better suited than lawnmowers to fit between small crevices and chew away rain or shine.
Agrivoltaics, a method using land for both solar energy production and agriculture, is on the rise with more than 60 solar grazing projects in the U.S., according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The American Solar Grazing Association says 27 states engage in the practice.
“The industry tends to rely on gas-powered mowers, which kind of contradicts the purpose of renewables,” SB Energy asset manager James Hawkins said.
Putting the animals to work on solar fields also provides some help to the sheep and wool market, which has struggled in recent years. The inventory of sheep and lamb in Texas fell to 655,000 in January 2024, a 4% drop from the previous year, according to the most recent figures from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Because solar fields use sunny, flat land that is often ideal for livestock grazing, the power plants have been used in coordination with farmers rather than against them.
Sheepherder JR Howard accidentally found himself in the middle of Texas’ burgeoning clean energy transition. In 2021, he and his family began contracting with solar farms — sites with hundreds of thousands of solar modules — to use his sheep to eat the grass.
What was once a small business has turned into a full-scale operation with more than 8,000 sheep and 26 employees.
“Just the growth has been kind of crazy for us,” said Howard, who named his company Texas Solar Sheep. “It’s been great for me and my family.”
Video unavailable in Oz.
Seen on ‘Landline’, a very good rural show on the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC). Sheep under solar panels doing Significantly better. Things like condensation on the panels enabling ‘green’ grass all year round. Multiple benefits to production on top of power sale.