GRANGE SOLAR GRAZING CENTER PARTNERS WITH LOGAN COUNTY GRAZERS

Each grazer will establish a commercial rotational sheep grazing operation in between, beneath, and around the rows of solar panels within their respective portions of Grange’s project area.  As part of Grange’s OPSB application, the Preliminary Grazing Plan details the planting of robust ground vegetation (e.g. native turf grass, pollinators, etc.) to cover the project area in order to preserve the soil for cultivation, to provide erosion control and stormwater management benefits, and also to serve as a pasture and food source for each grazer’s flock of sheep.  Grange’s Preliminary Grazing Plan also specifies vegetative ground cover seed mixes that rely on the recent research and recommendations published by The Ohio State University for the purpose of grazing sheep on solar facilities in Ohio.

As Noah Ganson of Ganson Farm and Wildlife, explains, rotational sheep grazing has a number of ecological and environmental benefits vs. farming row crops:

“Rotational grazing helps to improve soil health by storing carbon and other nutrients in the soil. It will also be beneficial to many types of pollinating insects as there will be substantially less pesticides being used, and it will help to improve water quality as there will be perennial plants on the site that will slow soil erosion and filter out nutrients.”

Ganson, who grew up on a small farm in Logan County, has raised animals of all kinds and has also been very active in the community since he was young, especially in matters of wildlife and conservation.  Like Ganson, John Shroyer is a life-long Logan County resident with a passion for sheep grazing, but limited access to, and the cost of, land has been an obstacle to his ability to expand his sheep grazing business.

Throughout Ohio and especially in Logan County, farmers, and young and new farmers in particular, find land access to be one of the main hurdles to a thriving livestock business. That is why the opportunity to collaborate with the Grange Solar Grazing Center on a unique multi-year arrangement years ahead of project construction provides such a unique opportunity to grow an agricultural business spanning hundreds acres of grazing land in Logan County. 

As numerous grazers have shared with Grange Solar, such opportunities simply do not exist for farmers in Ohio, and without the Grange Solar Grazing Center’s long-term commitment to provide land access for sheep grazing, there would not be a sheep grazing opportunity close to this scale – and the jobs and agricultural production that come with it – in Logan County.  Grazers across Ohio are happily learning that solar grazing offers the opportunity to expand a segment of Ohio’s agricultural industry to meet domestic agricultural demand that is currently being met by imports from New Zealand and elsewhere, allowing Ohio to produce more food in the US, diversify its agricultural economy, and become more competitive with foreign producers.  Solar grazing would allow Logan County to not only be an exporter of corn and soy, but also an exporter of lamb and clean electricity, which means a lot more money staying in the county for the benefit of the local community.  As John Shroyer puts it, “together, we’re cultivating a harmonious balance between agriculture and innovation.”

“I have lived here my whole life” Ganson explains. “I went to school here. Hunted, fished, worked, and volunteered here. Living in Logan County means living in a place where I feel like I can make a difference. The Grange Solar Grazing Center will allow us to expand our farming operation, provide locally grown food to the community, and allow us to have financial security going forward as we grow our farming business.”