Sheep are replacing lawnmowers on solar farms across America. They're quieter, cleaner, and in many cases cheaper.
More than 113,000 of them now graze over 500 US solar sites — and for the farmers who run the flocks, the contracts are a new income that keeps their land and their business in agriculture.
Today's guest is Rebekah Pierce, who runs a 300-sheep flock on 9 solar sites across upstate New York. Rebekah is a first-generation farmer, solar grazier, and author of Agri-Energy: Growing Power, Growing Food (Island Press).
With Jigar on vacation, Jamie is joined by guest co-host Lauren Glickman, VP of policy and communications at solar developer Encore Renewable Energy and a lifelong solar and agriculture enthusiast.
In this episode:
Why Encore ditched its diesel mowing crews and committed its entire portfolio to grazing
The business model almost nobody knows exists, and how it turned a money-losing hobby farm into a real livestock operation
The two stubborn brothers who sold Rebekah her hay, leased their land for solar, and changed her family's life
The prime-farmland myth: "Farmland isn't really useful if there's nobody who can afford to cultivate it"
Why tomatoes, of all things, might grow better inside a solar array
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