USDA Ends Solar Subsidies on Farmland, Citing Land Loss and Foreign Dependence
This week, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins made a significant announcement regarding the future of solar energy projects on American farmland. Speaking from Tennessee, Secretary Rollins declared that the USDA will no longer fund solar panel installations on productive farmland, nor will it allow panels manufactured by foreign adversaries to be used in any USDA-funded projects moving forward.
“Our prime farmland should not be wasted and replaced with green new deal subsidized solar panels. It has been disheartening to see our beautiful farmland displaced by solar projects, especially in rural areas that have strong agricultural heritage. One of the largest barriers of entry for new and young farmers is access to land. Subsidized solar farms have made it more difficult for farmers to access farmland by making it more expensive and less available. We are no longer allowing businesses to use your taxpayer dollars to fund solar projects on prime American farmland, and we will no longer allow solar panels manufactured by foreign adversaries to be used in our USDA-funded projects.”
The USDA reports that farmland used for solar projects has increased nearly 50% in recent years. Tennessee alone has lost 1.2 million acres of farmland to solar over the past three decades, with projections showing an additional 2 million acres at risk by 2027.
The USDA’s revised stance reflects growing concern about the impact of renewable energy development on agriculture, especially as land availability remains a critical barrier for beginning farmers.
U.S. Representative Austin Scott of Georgia praised the move, adding:
“There is no such thing as a solar farm. It is a waste of one of our most precious resources, our land. The extortion of the American taxpayers through solar subsidies, and the destruction of our farm and forest resources, has gone on for far too long. I commend Secretary Rollins for taking action to keep taxpayer dollars from being wasted on solar panels, purchased from our adversaries like China, and to no longer allow these unaffordable “green” projects to waste space on our American farmland and destroy our forest and wildlife habitat.”
Audio Reporting by Dale Sandlin for Southeast AgNet.