Farm in Hudson, Ohio (John Greim/LightRocket via Getty Images)
This story was originally published by Canary Media.
Solar panels cover a tiny portion of Ohio’s farmland — but it’s impossible to know that given how often renewable energy opponents call for blocking or restricting utility-scale installations in agricultural areas.
Solar panels take up less than one seventh 1% of the best agricultural land in Ohio, according to a map recently published by the Solar Energy Industry Association, or UNTIL.
In Ohio – and increasingly across the United States – concerns about the loss of farmland have become one of the most common arguments against proposed large-scale solar investments.
For example, agricultural issues were on the list of reasons for sponsoring former state senator Bill Reineke 2021 law this now allows Ohio counties to ban most solar and wind projects and places additional hurdles on those that can move forward.
Two years later, a presentation to Ohio lawmakers by Mitch Taking, then Ohio director of the environmental group The Empowerment Alliance, included slides on“lost farmland in ohio” i“fighting against the absurdity of turning cornfields into fields of sunshine.” Shortly thereafter, Give spoke at a rally to build opposition to Frasier Solar project in Knox County.
When Richland County banned large-scale solar and wind power across much of its territory last year, all three commissioners voted for the resolution, saying they were outsourcing the work to municipal-level officials who wanted to preserve the area’s agricultural character.
“They are very protective of farmland and it was clear to municipal managers that they did not want to lose farmland to gigantic wind and solar farms,” Richland County Commissioner Tony Vero told Canary Media last fall.
When residents organized a referendum to repeal the ban, Richland Farmland Conservation was the group whose campaign was successful he kept it on site.
It’s not just Ohio. Last week, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins raised arguments about the loss of prime agricultural land push back against New York’s approach to siting solar. She made similar claims in August last year announcing that her agency – which has long helped farmers install solar panels on their properties –“will no longer fund taxpayer dollars for solar panels on productive farmland.”
Local officials in Idaho, Wisconsin and several other states have also passed ordinances limiting or banning the utilize of solar energy on certain agricultural lands, according to 2025 report from the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University.
Calls to reject solar on agricultural lands often focus on the area of the proposed installation, but rarely provide context on what several hundred acres look like in practice or how they compare to other uses that might encroach on agricultural land. That’s right there UNTILfresh map is coming.
Overall, approx 31 from Ohio 37 square miles of solar energy generation area overlap with what the U.S. Department of Agriculture would consider prime farmland, known as UNTIL map shows.
Meanwhile, golf courses occupy over 2.7 times as much. Suburban growth since 2014 By 2024 used more than five times more often.
A fresh bill in Ohio could further harm gigantic wind and solar farms
““These farmlands are being permanently lost,” said Tom Bullock, executive director of the Citizens Utility Board of Ohio, a consumer advocacy group. In contrast, building solar on leased land “it does not destroy the possibility of turning it back into arable land.”
Calls to protect farmland from solar energy tend to ignore the fact that much of lively farmland is already used for energy production – just in a much less competent way.
Ohio farmers harvested corn from over 3.1 million acres last year, Department of Agriculture numbers show. ABOUT 40% of this is used to produce ethanol, most of which is blended with gasoline. Corn ethanol biofuels require approx 30 times land per unit of solar energy, in accordance with 2025 research conducted by scientists from Cornell University.
The growing opposition to solar power on farmland comes as Ohio and other states face rising demand for electricity, driving higher energy bills.
“As energy demand grows at a historic rate, Ohio needs every electron it can get as quickly as possible,” said Andrew Linhares, Midwest State Director for Energy. UNTILnoting that solar and storage are included 91% of fresh capacity added in the US in the first three months of this year.
“We need all forms of energy, but it takes five to seven years to build gas-fired power plants, and we’re still years away from bringing new nuclear energy online,” Linhares said. “Solar storage and warehousing are here.”
From a local standpoint, these statewide concerns may not“move the needle,” Bullock noted“because local authorities are concerned about their town, not the macro numbers.”
Still, better data can support local officials make better decisions when analyzing various zoning proposals.
“Land utilize planning, not necessarily at the federal level or even at the regional level, but at the local level… has to be critical,” said Dale Arnold, director of energy, utilities and local government policy for the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation, which advocates for farmers.
That’s because officials must balance many other priorities with the needs of agriculture, from boosting economic development and tax revenues to providing adequate housing and protecting natural areas.
However, many supporters emphasize that solar energy and agriculture do not have to be incompatible.
A Knox County farmer has joined forces sheep grazing for example, the agreement with the Frasier Solar project. AND pilot studies at the Madison County development aims to develop best practices for growing forages or other crops on a gigantic scale among rows of panels.
“Achieving a immaculate energy future doesn’t have to mean choosing between agriculture and energy production, said Karin Nordstrom, an attorney with the advocacy group Ohio Environmental Council.
