Farmer Experience Grazing Cattle and Sheep in Solar Projects
February 24, 2025 7:00PM - 8:00PM
Registration Deadline: February 24, 2025 - 04:00PM
Virtual Via Zoom
Contact: Charles Gould
This session will feature three panelists who will share their experience grazing cattle and sheep in solar projects.
The Watson family are experienced sheep producers in northern Illinois with a flock of 400 ewes and counting. Using their expertise in livestock as well as commercial mowing, Watson Farms offers vegetation management services for solar sites throughout Illinois through their service company, Illinois Solar Grazing. Brooke manages inquiries, contracts, and scheduling. Brooke’s husband Chauncey serves as Vice President of Operations and oversees sheep production and deployment, as well as mowing and spraying operations. They are members of the American Solar Grazing Association. In 2024, Watson Farms became one of the first solar grazers in the state with "hooves on the ground" actively maintaining vegetation on solar sites through grazing with sheep. Brooke will share their experience grazing sheep in solar sites.
Paul Knowlton, owner and operator of Knowlton Farms in Grafton, MA, is preserving his family’s 150-year farming tradition. In a collaborative solar project, the Knowltons have brought crops and cattle back to the farm. In 2017, an innovative 2 MW AC community solar project with 1.4 MW AC of battery energy storage capacity was built on the farm. The elevated solar panels and spaced rows allow for machinery, grazing, and crop science, enabling the family to return to full-time farming after a long hiatus. Paul will share his thoughts on how agrisolar has allowed his farm to remain a viable family business.
Angie Burke is blazing the trail to a brighter, cleaner and more abundant future with prodigious prowess. Under her leadership, Pivot brought in more agrivoltaics projects last year than any other company—with over 30 sites in 2023 alone. There are thousands of sheep and dozens of new solar farmers digging into new opportunities under solar panels because of Angie and Pivot’s commitment to building a 100% agrivoltaics portfolio, which is becoming a reality faster than anyone might have believed possible. She will share her thoughts on solar grazing from a solar developer perspective.
The 2025 MI Ag Ideas to Grow With conference will be held virtually, February 24 - March 7, 2024. This two-week program encompasses many aspects of the agricultural industry and offers a full array of educational sessions for farmers and homeowners interested in food production and other agricultural endeavors. While there is no cost to participate, attendees must register to receive the necessary zoom links. Registrants can attend as many sessions as they would like and are also able to jump around between tracks. RUP and CCA credits will be offered for several of the sessions. More information can be found at: https://www.canr.msu.edu/miagideas/
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