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In an 11-page letter obtained by Spectrum News 1, the state of New York responds to a federal letter sent to Gov. Kathy Hochul from U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins.
Rollins sent the letter last month laying out two chief concerns about the expansion of solar farms in New York.
The concerns include what Rollins called “the way New York classifies agricultural soils when siting these projects,” and what the state planned on doing with the solar panels when they were no longer useful.
Rollins recently made comments on Capitol Hill in an exchange with U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.
“Let me tell you what New York is stressed out about is the fact that your state is taking prime farmland and turning it into solar farms,” said Rollins. “That is absolutely inexcusable.”
In its letter, the state of New York maintains this isn’t the case, saying in part, “Only large-scale renewable energy projects 25 megawatts or larger are required to obtain a permit from ORES."
ORES — the Office of Renewable Energy Siting and Electric Transmission — is the state agency responsible for reviewing and issuing permits for major green energy projects.
The state of New York also provided a breakdown of the total acreage and percent of land approved by ORES that’s considered prime farmland.
It says of the 30 solar projects permitted by the state, the total fenced areas include:
The state adds, “Every acre of which was willingly leased by the farmers whose interest you seek to protect.”
Recently, Spectrum News 1 spoke with Paul O’Mara who works 3,500 acres of farmlands with this family in Madison County, New York. They lease 85 acres for solar farming.
“We didn’t give our prime land,” said O’Mara. “Honestly, we work 3,500 acres. A chunk of that is rented, and I don’t own a farm that I would consider prime soils.”
Specifically in O’Mara’s case, he says the land he has leased for solar farming is “heavy clay” ground that is “very difficult” to work.
As far as the disposal of solar panels, the state says it has strict regulations for when they are no longer useful, or a project has ended that protects farmlands and guidelines for the restoration of areas “intended for agricultural production.”
In a statement to Spectrum News 1, state Agriculture Commissioner Richard A. Bell said:
“New York State welcomes this opportunity to set the record straight as New York is a national leader in agricultural land protections, having invested more than $350 million through its Farmland Protection Program to protect more than 138,000 acres of prime farmland, so far.  Under Governor Hochul, the state has taken recent action to further increase its support of the Farmland Protection Program by providing Bond Act funding to expand the program’s reach to even more farms, and has not changed its mineral classification of farmland since it was created in the 1980’s when it was established in agricultural district law. New York is committed to its renewable energy goals but is balancing those with its priorities to conserve New York farmland and ensure land remains in agriculture.”
For this report, Spectrum News 1 reached out to the U.S. Department of Agriculture for comment on New York’s response. We did not immediately hear back.

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