Maryland, My Maryland

From Lancaster Farming, Maryland Ag Secretary Wants Solar and Farming to Coexist

Kevin Atticks wants renewable energy to grow in Maryland. But the state’s ag secretary doesn’t want solar panels to rise at the expense of farmers.

“We have to move to renewable energy. That is true. The other thing that’s true is we have to grow food here,” Atticks said Nov. 16 at the University of Maryland’s Agricultural and Environmental Law Conference in Annapolis.

The problem, he said, is that utility-scale solar arrays only make economic sense if they are densely spaced. That doesn’t leave much sunlight for plants or space for farm equipment.

In addition, clearing topsoil appears to be a standard — and not farm-friendly — practice when building solar projects, he said.

Atticks acknowledged that sheep grazing and pollinator plantings are proposed ways for farming to coexist with solar arrays.

“We don’t have an incredibly vibrant sheep industry in the state. But if that’s the answer — if Maryland, due to its energy generation goals, needs to become the nation’s lamb leader — well, that falls under our department to get it done,” Atticks said.

To him, a stronger solution might include incentives that help companies spread out and elevate their panels enough to accommodate farm machinery and livestock other than sheep.

For example, a tax break to put solar panels on buildings might help energy companies afford less dense arrays in fields.

Maryland aims to get at least 14.5% of its electricity from solar by 2028.

That could require 12,000 to 50,000 acres of additional solar, Atticks said. On the high end, that would be 2.5% of the farmland in the state.

To protect farms, counties can’t simply declare they have enough solar. The Public Service Commission can overrule them.

But maybe vertical farms could compensate for the food production lost on fields converted to solar, Atticks said.

At the same time, he said, the Ag Department respects private landowners’ right to put solar on their properties if they choose.

I&I They Razed Paradise And Put Up A Solar Farm

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