Vermont farmer urges state incentives to pair sheep grazing with solar farms

Lewis Fox, a sheep farmer from Leicester and owner of Agravoltaic Solutions, told a legislative committee that pairing livestock grazing with ground‑mounted solar arrays can support farm viability and should be encouraged through state policy. "Solar grazing is not theoretical or a pilot program. It's not a prediction of what could be done. It is being done now at scale and it is growing rapidly," Fox said.

Fox said his business grazes roughly 700 sheep across about 650 acres of ground‑mounted solar sites in Vermont, New Hampshire and New York, and supports two full‑time local employees and a UVM summer intern. He described solar sites as "highly productive environments" for sheep because secure perimeter fences reduce predator losses and shade from panels lowers heat stress, which in his experience reduces animals' water needs.

The testimony cited a 2024 census conducted by the American Solar Grazing Association (ASA) with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) that Fox said found about 130,000 acres of U.S. solar land being grazed by roughly 113,000 sheep; in the Northeast the census reported about 4,600 acres managed by 13,000 sheep, which Fox said represents about 5% of the region's flock.

Why it matters: Fox told the committee that solar grazing can provide steady, weather‑insulated revenue for farm families, expand land access for new farmers, and direct vegetation‑management budgets at solar sites to local producers rather than mowing contractors.

Fox urged the committee to consider an incentive structure for "agricultural integration" in Vermont and to involve the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets in the state's section 248 process so regulators and developers better incorporate farming goals into project design. He cautioned against incentivizing very small sites, saying parcels under about 5 acres are often uneconomic to serve because of transport and equipment costs.

During questions, lawmakers asked about tradeoffs and logistics. Fox acknowledged that forage production directly beneath panels can be reduced but said forage quality there is often higher because plants are less heat‑stressed, and that total seasonal production tends to balance out in a managed grazing rotation. On livestock species, he said sheep remain the most common animals used for solar grazing but that some large developers are successfully using cattle on very large sites.

Compensation and operations: Fox said grazing contracts in the Northeast generally compete with mowing and that typical full‑season rates run about $350–$550 per acre; very small or inefficient sites can be far more expensive on a per‑acre basis. He described typical management as rotating animals through sites, often three to four times per season, hauling water for most sites, and sometimes drilling wells on larger projects.

Policy considerations and design details: Fox flagged two common design issues that can undermine grazing: wildlife‑friendly fences that leave a 6–8 inch gap at the bottom and wildflower‑heavy seed mixes that lack the nutritional density livestock need. He said incentive structures could set design and seeding standards so projects meet both pollinator and forage objectives.

The committee thanked Fox and placed the meeting in a five‑minute recess. The panel did not take any formal votes during the testimony segment.