Every year, many farmers find themselves faced with the same task of trying to find enough land, time, and resources to maintain their livestock in good condition. However, in upstate New York, Erica Frenay found out that her sheep could graze on a completely unusual site, which was not a typical pasture. Instead of being confined only to her farm, 59 sheep were grazing under solar panels for five months during the season, thus turning the energy farm into temporary pasture for her flock. This allowed for the creation of an unusual collaboration of agriculture and energy, in which the solar farm obtained a natural weed management tool, while Frenay got paid extra and did not put pressure on her own land. The Cornell Small Farms Program states that Erica Frenay of Shelterbelt Farm leased 25 lambs and 34 ewes to a solar grazing project in 2019 and earned a total of $2,325 for the season. The flock grazed at the solar site from roughly May to late September.
When sheep became part of a solar farm’s maintenance plan
