Sheep Keep Solar Farms Out of the Shade
Photojournalism and Drone/Aerials | Bloomberg News | Hampton, MN
For Trople and Hark, maintaining solar sites means profits that were becoming elusive in the US, where consumption of lamb meat has been declining for decades. Trople also sells hats and gloves made with the boutique product “solar wool” to help make up lost sales of meat.
Stung by high fuel costs and a labor squeeze for traditional mowing, energy providers are turning to flocks of sheep for targeted vegetation management surrounding the arrays of panels expanding across rural America.
It’s a partnership of necessity: Solar companies are looking to farmland to continue a record rate of expansion while farmers need additional sources of revenue with agriculture income expected to decline in 2023 due to rising interest rates and high costs for everything from seed and fertilizer to machinery and the land itself.
