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As New York races to meet its clean energy goals, a growing number of solar developers are targeting agricultural land, and some residents and researchers say the state is not doing enough to protect the farms that feed its communities.
The tension is playing out across rural New York, where Cornell University researchers surveyed landowners in three counties most likely to see large-scale solar development. Farm landowners were at least twice as likely as others to hear from solar developers seeking to lease their land, according to Katie Walsh, a research associate at Cornell.
The stakes are significant. According to the American Farmland Trust, New York lost more than 2,700 farms and more than 350,000 acres of farmland between 2017 and 2022. Without intervention, the state could lose an additional 450,000 acres by 2040. 
A report from the state Comptroller’s office found that between 2024 and 2025, New York lost 500 farms and 100,000 acres of farmland. The decline of farmland equates to 1.5% which is five times the national rate of 0.3%. 
Some rural residents say proposed solar projects are being placed on land zoned for conservation or residential use, bypassing the kind of community input that should accompany decisions of that scale. Critics argue that siting large arrays on or adjacent to agricultural land undermines the very resources the state claims to want to preserve.
"If we’re trying to protect agriculture and farmland in upstate New York, this is not the way to go about it," said Frank Florio, a Clifton Park resident living near a proposed solar development.
Solar supporters, however, say that framing misses the bigger picture. Jeff Risley, executive director of Renewable Energy Farmers of America, argues that leasing land for solar can serve as a financial lifeline for farms under economic pressure.
"Harvesting electrons is just another way of harvesting a crop," Risley said. "It’s just another way for the landowner to use the land and get another income stream."
Cornell research offers some support for that view. Farmers can receive between $1,000 to $1,200 per acre for a solar lease, and those who signed them were three times more likely to say they would reinvest the revenue into their operations rather than scale back. 
Still, Risley acknowledged that responsible siting matters.
"I’m not saying that the concerns aren’t legitimate and that we have to be smart about siting solar on agricultural land and minimizing impacts," he said. "But the facts on the ground don’t match the rhetoric in the air."
The debate reflects a broader challenge facing states with aggressive renewable energy targets: how to expand clean power infrastructure without sacrificing the farmland and local character that rural communities depend on.

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