John Langdon and his brother have experimented with all kinds of crops and techniques on their multigenerational farm in Harrisburg in the Willamette Valley. Nothing has been as controversial as their attempt to add solar panels to 1,100 acres where they currently grow ryegrass.
For more than two years, the brothers – who also grow rice and hazelnuts – have been collaborating with the company Qcells, a subsidiary of South Korean solar company Hanwha Q, to create a proposal for Oregon’s first large-scale commercial “agrovoltaic” project. Agrovoltaics marry solar energy with farming, putting solar panels on land used for animal grazing and crops. The Langdons and Qcells are finalizing a plan for the site, which could include continued cultivation of rye and other crops and sheep grazing.
The project would have to be approved by the state’s Energy Facility Siting Council and the Land Conservation and Development Commission.
But even before finalizing their application, the brothers and the company have run up against criticism from some neighbors and commissioners in Linn County, who say it could harm the area’s agriculture and wildlife and the future of the Willamette Valley. The project is also contending with a 50-year-old land use permitting system with somewhat contradictory rules about how “high-value agricultural land” can be used.
To meet state and federal targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, solar energy has to play a larger role in the nation’s energy economy, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. But in Oregon, where new farmland is increasingly hard to find and difficult to afford, some farmers fear allowing solar production on land zoned exclusively for farming could lead to even less affordable acreage for crops and livestock.
The agriculture industry occupies more than 40% of all land in the lower 48 states, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. If the country…
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