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The conversation around solar farming in New York is gaining national traction.
Recently, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins sent a formal letter to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul demanding answers in what she called “the state’s decision to fast-track industrial solar projects on some of America’s most productive farmland.”
To get a better understanding of exactly what solar farming entails, Spectrum News 1 spoke with solar farmers.
“We treat the solar panels as a crop in our rotation,” said Paul O’Mara, who co-owns O’Mara Farms in Madison County, New York, with his family.
Since 1976, the farm has grown everything from squash for Birds Eye and snap beans to corn and wheat.
Out of 3,500 acres, O’Mara says 85 acres is now leased for solar farming, which he says will help him strengthen and preserve his farm for future generations.
“It was a hard decision to make, but the income we can make from solar panels is far greater than anything we can make growing corn or soybeans or small grains,” said O’Mara.
As farmers navigate everything from federal changes that are impacting their workforce and rises in fuel and fertilizer costs, they’re looking for other ways to protect their bottom line, including solar farming.
Rebekah Pierce of J&R Pierce Family Farm in Clinton County, New York, specializes in grazing sheep and cattle to manage the vegetation under solar panels at multiple sites, including in Franklin County.
Pierce says farmers often use their subpar land for solar farming, not their best acreage.
Pierce speaks on the argument that once installing solar panels, the land is ruined for future crops.
She says the panels themselves are made from glass, silicon and aluminum.
“Everything can be removed, even if the site isn’t being farmed around like we’re doing here,” said Pierce. “Even if it’s not being farmed around, it can go back to being farmed in the future and it’s remained in that family’s name.”
Not everyone agrees with the push to use New York’s farmland for solar farming.
In addition to the U.S. secretary of agriculture’s letter, state Republican lawmakers also spoke out against New York’s energy initiatives at a farm in Albany County back in April.
Lawmakers said since being introduced years ago and reinforced through state budgets since 2019, the Renewable Action Through Project Interconnection and Deployment Act along with mandates stemming from the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act were anticipated to streamline renewable energy projects.
Instead, they said they’ve laid the foundation for the large-scale conversion of farmland into industrial energy sites, many with solar panels, they said often have little to no benefit to their surrounding local communities.
Republican Assemblyman Chris Tague says he doesn’t have an issue with farmers using their land to solar farm. His issue is with how the policy was put in place and rolled out.
“Our farmers in the state of New York have been regulated almost out of business,” said Tague. “They’ve struggled since the beginning of time. I know this because I was one. I believe that it’s almost 750,000 acres of good fertile, productive farmland that has actually been used. Not just for solar, but for development, residential development and energy projects.”
According to the New York State Comptroller’s Office, New York farms are seeing a decline in farmland that’s being used for other uses particularly residential, commercial or industrial purposes removing its use for farming in the foreseeable future.
The governor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on if it has responded to Rollins’ letter.

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