Is the Opportunity to Graze Sheep Under Solar Arrays Good for Your Future?

 

ITHACA, New York Sheep ranchers can become richer today and in the future by providing vegetation management services and access to extra pasture by grazing sheep beneath utility-scale solar arrays.  More than 600 farmers responded to a survey that the Cornell Cooperative Enterprise Program (CEP) conducted earlier this year to determine the demands and chances for collaboration in order to meet the difficulties of size and scale for grazing sheep beneath utility-scale solar arrays. Almost 70% of respondents said that the industry needed a producer-led organization to handle contract negotiations, insurance, transportation, and on-site management of sheep. 80% of farmers anticipate a need for more branding, processing, and marketing services as the number of sheep is projected to rise.

To share the survey's findings, two sessions are scheduled. In order to advance the interests of farmers grazing sheep beneath solar arrays, these meetings will most critically give farmers the chance to comment and recommend next measures for moving forward with the development of one or more farmer-led enterprises. A meeting will be held on Monday, September 25, 2023 from 6:30 to 8:30 PM at the Livingston County Murray Hill office complex, 1 Murray Hill Drive, Mt. Morris, NY 14510, as a joint effort between the CEP and the CCE Northwest New York Dairy, Livestock, & Field Crops team. Visit http://tiny.cc/97ravz to sign up by September 25 at 5:00 PM.  Please call Nancy Glazier, a livestock specialist, at 585.315.7746 if you have any questions or need accommodations. 

A meeting will be held at CCE Jefferson County, 203 North Hamilton St., Watertown, NY 13601, on Thursday, September 28, from 12:00 to 1:30 PM. CCE St. Lawrence County and the CEP will also be present. Register at http://tiny.cc/53ravz to attend this conference. Contact Abbey Jantzi, Dairy & Livestock Specialist, at phone number 315.788.8450 X 278 or email address aej48@cornell.edu if you require any further information or special accommodations. Contact Bobbie Severson, CEP Director, at 607.255.1987 or rmh27@cornell.edu for additional details about the New Dawn for Shepherds: Grazing Sheep Under Utility-scale Solar Arrays. Later this fall, additional gatherings will take place in New England and southern Pennsylvania.

Funding for Grazing Sheep Under Utility-scale: A New Dawn for Shepherds Through grant agreement 21FSMIPNY1002, the USDA Agricultural Marketing Services, Federal State Marketing Improvement Program, made Solar Arrays possible. Its authors alone are responsible for its content, which does not always reflect the USDA's official position.