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https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/solar/6-000-sheep-will-soon-be-grazing-on-10-00-acres-of-texas-solar-fields>
"JR Howard of Texas Solar Sheep can’t buy sheep fast enough. He supplies them
to solar farms, where their grazing keeps grass short for less than the cost of
mowing it. Demand for his animals has skyrocketed over the past few years as
more and more large solar installations are being built. Now Howard is
scrambling to fulfill his biggest order yet: for 6,000 sheep, which will be put
to work grazing eight Texas solar fields run by Enel North America.
Howard’s booming business is a form of agrivoltaics, which combines solar
panels with agriculture or other land uses that benefit farmers and ecosystems.
Along with renting sheep out to solar fields, Howard raises them to sell for
meat — but only the males. He needs as many females as he can get to shore up
his herds. When he first started his business three years ago, he had just 400
sheep on one solar site. Since then, he’s deployed over 10,000. The increasing
demand for sheep grazing on solar farms is “the greatest opportunity for the
sheep industry in my lifetime,” Howard told Canary Media.
The solar grazing project with Enel isn’t the first of its kind, but it will be
the largest in the country. Altogether, Enel’s eight solar installations occupy
a stretch of land nearly the size of Manhattan and currently produce 2.6
gigawatts of power (a few of the fields are still in the final stages of
construction).
Using sheep as a vegetation maintenance crew is a win-win.
“Ultimately, we’re a business,” said Jesse Puckett, director of sustainability
projects and community affairs at Enel. “This is one way that we can enhance
the bottom line and build sustainability into our project.”
The animals are more efficient than lawn mowers, since they can get into the
nooks and crannies under panel arrays, Puckett said, though some additional
mowing is sometimes necessary, which Howard’s company provides along with the
sheep. Mowing is also more likely to kick up rocks or other debris, damaging
panels that then must be repaired, adding to costs.
Agrivoltaics projects involving sheep have been shown to improve the quality of
the soil, since their manure is a natural fertilizer. At a solar installation
in Minnesota, where Enel first started grazing sheep in 2017, the company saw a
200 percent improvement in organic matter. Using sheep instead of mowers also
cuts down on fossil fuel use, while allowing native plants to mature and bloom.
Solar projects that prioritize native plant growth have been found to increase
the biodiversity of plants and insects, like native bees, and to reduce soil
erosion.
The sheep benefit, too. Shade from solar panels helps them stay cool, and
Howard has found they don’t need as much water as when they’re grazing on open
fields."
Via Susan ****
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*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
