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Lawmakers, commissioner debate farmland preservation as solar development and agrivoltaics expand
Summary
At the budget hearing, lawmakers and Agriculture Commissioner Richard Ball discussed farmland protection funding, reported acreage preserved last year, and sought clearer policies to minimize solar development's impact on prime farmland while exploring agrivoltaic approaches and research.
Lawmakers pressed Agriculture Commissioner Richard Ball on farmland preservation and the impact of solar and other renewable developments on productive farmland at the Jan. 27 joint budget hearing.
"We went over 100,000 acres preserved last year," Ball said, while acknowledging "that still leaves a tremendous amount of acres that's not protected." He described ongoing commitments from past budgets and said the department is working with regional partners and land trusts to speed easement transactions.
At the same time, legislators from farm districts raised concerns about large solar projects placed on high-quality farmland and about cumulative loss of tillable acreage. Senator George Borrello and other members said they were seeing multi-thousand-acre projects in their districts and asked whether alternatives, such as repurposing brownfields or employing agrivoltaic systems, could reduce farmland loss.
Agency response and policy work
- Ball said the department is coordinating with NYSERDA and the Public Service Commission through memoranda of understanding and technical working groups to avoid, minimize or mitigate impacts to actively farmed land, and to refine siting approaches for higher-quality soils. He said the MOU and technical work are ongoing.
- Research: Commissioners and advocates noted Cornell's agrivoltaic and hemp-processing work; $5,000,000 appropriations for hemp equipment and processing support were discussed in prior budgets and technical assistance and a Cornell research appropriation are cited in testimony.
Why it matters: Farmland conversion to energy projects is a policy tradeoff between renewable targets and food production capacity; committee members and the commissioner described the need for clearer siting rules, more farmland easements, and funding to expand land trust capacity.
Next steps: The department said it will continue interagency technical work and monitor voluntary and regulatory pathways to protect prime agricultural soils. Lawmakers asked for increased farmland preservation funding and to consider bond-act proceeds and capacity grants for local land trusts.
