Partnerships provide stable income to help farmers and ranchers stay on their land despite agriculture’s uncertainties. Not all are fans, though.
Source: San Antonio Express News
Ely Valdez was considering selling his flock of sheep when a solar farm moved in across the road.
He was being laid off from oil field jobs every three months, he said, and money was tight.
But what if his 27 sheep could graze the solar farm as a way to maintain the flock and potentially grow it to his goal of 100? When he contacted the solar development to discuss it, its owner asked a question that changed everything: “How much would you charge us?”
Being paid for pasturing his sheep wasn’t at all on Valdez’s mind until that “lightbulb moment,” he said.
But it opened the door for his development of companies that often work in partnership: EVA Ranch, a sheep vegetation management service, and South Texas Curbing, a ground maintenance company.
“We still have that same site that we started with 11 years ago,” Valdez said. “That means that we’re doing something right.”
Now, the flock he oversees has grown to 10,000 sheep and expanded from grazing the 100-acre solar farm in South San Antonio to rotating across 40,000 acres throughout Texas, a site in Alabama and another in Louisiana. For Valdez, solar farm grazing was a lifeline to keeping his farming business afloat.
Such ag-energy industry partnerships come as demand for electricity is spiking. Texas is facing an unprecedented surge in demand driven by population growth and an increasing number of large electric loads looking to connect to the statewide grid. In response, developers across Texas are building to meet the demand, with solar and battery sites now making up 77% of generation sources, grid operator the Electric Reliability Council of Texas reported in December.
Rural Texas, with vast swaths of land available affordably, is often the site of such projects. That raises concerns for some who fear farmland is being lost. But for those who have figured out ways to work alongside the growth, there is a potential to profit from the renewable energy projects in ways that can offer stability to the unpredictable agriculture industry.
“We’re going to have a lot more farmers out there not having to sell their livestock or their ranches,” Valdez said. “It’s a second opportunity for all of us that have this deal. It really has changed the industry … and I think we’re going in the right direction.”
‘Guaranteed payment’
Solar farms are the perfect setup for sheep, Valdez said. Mowers can blow debris that damage solar panels and leave them dusty. The sheep are small and agile enough to graze underneath them and keep vegetation down without damaging them. On the larger properties, his crews mow part of the land and sheep graze the rest. Their waste, which fertilizes the land, is just an added bonus that ensures the land remains arable.
Not all the sheep that Valdez maintains now are his own, as he subcontracts flocks from other farmers. Many are struggling amid the drought and don’t want to sell their sheep so, Valdez said, he helps manage their investments.
Farmers also can lease a portion of unused land to a solar farm to generate extra revenue that ensures they keep possession of the farmland. Valdez said, “I would rather have a solar farm right next to my place than a brand-new subdivision.”
“It’s a guaranteed payment — if it rains, if it doesn’t rain, if we go through a drought; if your prices go high, low,” he said. “You still have that revenue. You’re still guaranteed that piece of property is still going to be farming for the next 25 years.”
Not everyone agrees solar farms are a rural boon. Others worry renewable energy projects will affect their land and livelihood.
Aaron Turner, an agronomist and owner of All-Terrain Ag Management, said that urban encroachment is just a new struggle for an industry already dealing with environmental and economic difficulties.
“Some of the best farming ground in the state is now sitting underneath pads of concrete,” he said.
Turner said he’s not against solar farms — he would just prefer their panels be placed on top of Walmart and H-E-B and away from Texas farm fields, he said.
‘Ugly turbines’
John Davis, who farms near Menard, initially did not want the “ugly turbines with the red blinking lights” on his land. It took three pitches for Davis to accept a wind energy project developer’s offer. Now, he has seven turbines on the 1,300-acre ranch where he raises sheep, goats and cows.
He estimates renewable energy provides about 40% of his income — money he can reinvest into his farm.
“(It) allows us to keep the ranch in the family versus selling it to some of the city folk who have a lot of money but don’t know anything about ranching,” Davis said.
Many people are purchasing ranches for entertainment purposes as Texas becomes more urbanized, Davis said, hosting recreational hog-hunting or deer-hunting experiences. But for Davis, it was important to continue being a producer — even if that meant adapting a renewable energy source into his operation.
Now, he said he would be interested in battery energy storage systems and solar as well. He said, “I can be bought.”
The conflict in Iran highlights the role that renewable energy can play in ensuring the country is energetically autonomous, Davis said, as oil prices continue to rise since the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. The chokehold on the critical nautical passageway for oil has led to national gas prices up more than 27% and diesel up 49% when compared with the year prior, according to AAA.
“We can be part of a whole national security solution,” Davis said. “We’re just a very small spoke in the wheel — but all those folks help out. It helps give you independence as a nation.”