FRASIER SOLAR PARTNERS WITH KNOX COUNTY GRAZER NEW SLATE LAND MANAGEMENT

SOLAR GRAZING MEANS FRASIER SOLAR’S ACREAGE WILL REMAIN IN AGRICULTURAL USE
FOR DECADES!

As a means of managing the project area’s native vegetative ground cover and contributing to Knox County’s agricultural economy, Frasier Solar will host one of the largest sheep grazing operations in Ohio within the fences of the project. This dual-use, or “solar grazing” operation means that virtually all of the acreage used for solar power production on the Frasier Solar project will also remain in full agricultural production.

Knox County-based New Slate Land Management, LLC, who provided input on the Frasier Solar Preliminary Vegetation Management Plan, will establish a commercial rotational sheep grazing operation in between, beneath, and around the rows of solar panels within the Frasier Solar project area. As part of Frasier Solar’s OPSB application, the Preliminary Vegetation Management Plan details the planting of robust ground vegetation 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 New Slate’s herd of sheep.

Frasier Solar’s Preliminary Vegetation Management Plan specifies vegetative ground cover seed mixes that rely on recent research and recommendations published by The Ohio State University for the purpose of grazing sheep on solar facilities in Ohio.

Knox County residents Brad and Katie Carothers and their partner Camren Maierle currently manage New Slate’s sheep grazing operations in central Ohio. As Brad Carothers explains, farmers, especially young and new farmers, find access to land to be one of the biggest hurdles to having a livestock business. Their opportunity to work hand-in-hand with Frasier Solar on an agricultural business spanning over 800 acres of grazing land in Knox County presents a huge opportunity that would not otherwise be available to sheep farmers in Knox County. “Without Frasier Solar, there probably would not be a New Slate Land Management operation – and the jobs and agricultural production that come with it – in Knox County.”

As the New Slate team sees it, solar grazing offers the opportunity to significantly expand a segment of Ohio’s agricultural industry, producing more of our food in the US and becoming more competitive with foreign producers. The US currently imports most of its lamb from abroad while exporting much of our corn and soy crops. Solar grazing would allow Knox County to not only be an exporter of corn and soy, but also an exporter of lamb and clean electricity, keeping more money in the county for the benefit of the local community.

The Frasier Solar Letter of Intent with New Slate Management, LLC can be found here,
and Frasier Solar’s Preliminary Vegetation Management Plan can be downloaded here.