We’re increasingly seeing the stars align between the sheep industry and solar energy in unexpected places, as if the world is conspiring to bring us all together. This past week, the American Sheep Industry Association (ASI) had their annual convention in Scottsdale, AZ. Coincidentally, just 5 minutes down the road, the renewable energy company Arevon, who has a grazing program in California and is working hard to grow their agrivoltaics projects, had their annual meeting at the same time.
As a sponsor of our solar grazing documentary, Arevon graciously invited ASGA to screen the film for their company. The film, "Pastures and Panels", powerfully gets at the heart of the difficulties family farms are facing all across the country and how solar grazing offers a new way forward. Watch the trailer here: https://lnkd.in/eWWc5TKW
At the Arevon meeting, the film played to a packed house. We followed the screening with a panel where solar graziers discussed the nitty gritty of how to do it right and the wide regional differences we’re seeing. We were excited to see a company passionate about solar grazing/agrivoltaics and committed to learning how best to create strong farmer-solar partnerships.
A few hours later, we returned to the sheep industry convention and showed the film to a packed crowd of American sheep producers. The afternoon prior, the sheep industry held their keynote opening session and, for the first time, that session was focused entirely on solar grazing and how it can “energize” the sheep industry. The discussion was led by a mix of solar graziers and solar asset owners, and it set the tone for how big of an opportunity solar grazing presents to the sheep industry, as well as the growing interest in it among producers.
Building these kinds of bridges is how we're laying strong foundations for a future rife with agriculture under solar panels. This is exactly what ASGA’s membership community was created to do.
We are grateful to see these discussions happening across multiple industries by a wide range of actors with a genuine desire to make the most out of what solar grazing can bring to the table.
A huge thank you to ASI’s leadership, including Lynn Fahrmeier, Erica Sanko, Ryan Indart, ASI President Brad Boner, and ASI VP Ben Lehfeldt, as well as many others for arranging the solar grazing aspects of last week’s convention. The opening panel including a wonderful mix of characters: David Wen from The AES Corporation, Ryan Indart, Loran Shallenberger from Silicon Ranch Corporation, Lexie Hain from Lightsource bp, Daniel Dotterer, and Reid Redden.
Thank you so much to Arevon’s leadership, including Kevin Smith and Tiffany Buck, for supporting ASGA and solar grazing and inviting us into their conference. We appreciate Ely Valdez (who brought along his son Eric), Daniel Dotterer, Arlo Hark, and the American Lamb Board's Camren Maierle for participating in the presentation.
#solargrazing #agrivoltaics
