How "solar grazing" is creating a new industry

the image of a Shepherd tending a flock of sheep goes back centuries but lately it's gotten quite a modern update in many parts of the country agricultural land is now home to the massive panels of the booming solar energy industry and that land remains suitable for grazing farm animals which in turn control the growth of vegetation around the panels solar grazing as it's known is just one example of the agrosolar industry a growing space which combines the old and new to enhance both the economy and the environment you ready reg away to me it is a border collie's dream come true six acres of land calling for Reggie to do what she was born to do get up hurting a flock of 32 sheep under the watchful eye of her owner good girl good girl hi sheep Dan Finnegan one well-trained border collie like Reggie is worth five full-time employees between the sheep and the dog I'm just a driver here we go Dan is more than just a driver he's a third generation sheep farmer in Southeastern Massachusetts and while this isn't his family farm it is Dan Reggie and the phlox office for the day together they make up solar Shepherd working with large energy companies across the U.S using the Sheep to graze sites like this one which hosts solar arrays in Dan's words they're in the landscaping business did people think you were crazy or at the very beginning at the very beginning the conversations were centered around you you'd like to do what on our solar array yeah now that's not so much the case Good Girl lie down Dan started solar Shepherd five years ago why do you think it's been embraced so easily now or at least so well now well first and foremost the Sheep do a great job excellent workers they're wonderful workers they do a great job of managing the vegetation on the solar array they fit underneath the solar panels the old-fashioned way of managing these sites would be to come in with a crew of five or eight guys on Zero Turn Mowers with the bulk of their time spent running weed whackers underneath the solar panels to get all that vegetation that grows under there you know a site like this you'd probably send an eight-man crew for three days each time they mow it at least three or four times a year time and money time and money there's also the environmental impact according to a recent study if all sheep in the U.S were shifted to agrisolar Farms the reduction in carbon emissions would be the same as removing 117 000 cars from the road this field which solar Shepherd grazes is one of 30 owned and operated by National Grid responsible for providing power to more than 20 million customers in the Northeast this brings energy into the grid Steve Werner is the president for National Grid New England what was it about agrisolar that attracted National Grid it's an interesting solution to a problem that we have right so we we installed large-scale solar Fork residents of Massachusetts we need to maintain the vegetation the grass that grows on those properties we came across this idea and said hey this is a win-win it's cost effective it's environmentally responsible it's friendly to the neighbors and this is just another example of how an area that was agricultural use still can be and also be a generator those staff benefits from solar grazing especially when it comes to the environment are exceeding expectations according to Stacy Peterson's and we're seeing sometimes a three-fold increase in pollinators we're seeing three times the amount of birds and bees bats butterflies she's the energy program director at ncats Agri solar Clearinghouse a government-funded information hub for all things agrisolar how much has this industry grown in the last five to ten years so much this is taking off all across the country and all across the world really we're there to help you figure out what's best for your area and connect you with the right people that might help you do this if you want this at your farm or if you want this in your community solar grazing is just one of many in the Agra solar sphere on solar sites Nationwide there are pollinators and beekeeping crops grown cattle raised even fish farmed Peterson says the opportunities appear endless so this is going to be a game changer in being able to move forward sustainably people may not see Agriculture and solar as fitting together naturally why would you say that they maybe do I think that it is another crop they're harvesting the sun again they are providing the crop of energy and they're doing that in a way that they can sustain their Farm I'm talking to Farmers that they're able to pay for their farm for Generations they look at this as a way to be a good Steward of the land it does not come in with a mini mall it doesn't come in with a residential development this is something that can be returned completely to agricultural lands and with the number and size of farms in the U.S steadily declining over the last 15 years Rich totally here that may be the relief many have been looking for it certainly has been for Dan Finnegan and Reggie without this solar operation and the added pasture it brings us we wouldn't have a sustainable Farm we need this and I think there are a lot of other farmers in that same boat when you think about how many animals you need to produce to produce a living particularly in in the Northeast here it takes a lot of acreage to do that so the the 100 acres of solar pasture we have under management that makes our farm sustainable if we didn't have that we we wouldn't be able to to continue we're producing food fiber and energy all from the same acre of land it's a smarter way to use this land I kept sort of looking for what's the negative because you start looking what and really the hardest things seem to be maybe for some of the farmers that upfront cost of if they had to cart some of their sheep around or if some of the planting was different but it really seems like everybody is getting the win out of this even if there is some upfront cost in the beginning you make up for it in so many other ways might get incentivized at some point certainly and if you can keep your farm or your business going for Generations that's incentive right there [Music]

Channel: CBS News

Views: 382,767

Keywords: CBS Saturday Morning, CBS News, video, solar grazing, solar panels, agri-solar, farming

Id: T6PEk_OZUmI

Length: 6min 47sec (407 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 08 2023