They're coming for farmland: the number of farmers asked to lease land to solar is shocking

Purdue University released a statistic last week that even shocked me. I knew the situation was bad, but I didn't know it was this bad. We will only get one chance to protect our farmland.

I opened my Facebook yesterday to see a direct message from a gentleman about 1.5 hours away from my farm. He sent me a few articles related to the dire situation in his county related to solar ‘farms.’ I put the word ‘farms’ in quotes… because these dystopian solar panel-covered fields are anything but farms.

The gentleman then requested my presence at their next hearing. I sent along the legislation my town has drafted to try and stop these massive Tier 3 solar grabs in my region. I told him he is free to use that legislation and share it with his town boards to hopefully stop the onslaught of big solar in that area as well.

This person is not the first one to write to me with a tone of desperation - if your town doesn’t have big solar breathing down its neck yet, consider yourself lucky: it’s coming soon. The land grab in Upstate New York is beyond what I can describe in an article.

And it turns out a study done by Purdue University substantiates this claim:

88% of farmers have been approached to rent their land over to big solar for an average of $1,000/acre.

Of the farmers I have spoken to, both in person and online, they tell me these companies ‘approach’ them three to SIX times. You read that correctly. A big international corporation under the guise of ‘green energy,’ backed by state grant money, is knocking on the doors of farmers multiple times to persuade them to hand their land over.

My neighbor who owns 100 acres that he uses to grow hay to feed his thoroughbred farm told me ‘approached’ certainly isn’t the right word here. The real word is pressured. And that word makes some people uncomfortable.

After I posted two articles last week about the solar farms hearing in my town and my speech I drafted to read before the board members, people from all over the state have reached out to me to let me know the same thing is happening in their town. In fact, they let me know that big solar is visiting the HOMES of board members to PRESSURE them to pass legislation that paves the way for ‘big solar farms.’

In my town, a Tier 3 solar farm refers to an area of 50 acres or larger. The majority of the working farms in my area are at least 50 acres or larger, including corn fields, hay fields, dairy farmers, meat farmers, nurseries, and lavender farms. All of these farms are currently in operation. That doesn’t stop big solar from dispatching henchmen to convince the farmers, as they age, to hand over the land.

The problem is this: the average age of the American farmer is over 60 right now. They will retire or pass on in the coming 20-years. They don’t all have kids to pass their farms to - or from what I hear locally - their kids aren’t interested in taking over the family business. If they’re sitting on 200 acres and big solar makes them a rental offer of $200,000/year, it’s a hard deal to walk away from.

Big solar knows that the greatest wealth transfer of our lifetimes is now underway. $24 trillion dollars worth of farmland will change hands now through 2045 (source: the 2025 Farmer’s Almanac). That’s why I scream about this from the mountaintops - as everyday people - we will only get one chance to buy this land. When it’s gone… it’s gone forever.

Our strongest defense today is this:

• For anyone who has ever wanted to own a little piece of land, now is the time to do it. There will never be a better time. Here are my articles on how to finance this land.

• Push back on these solar empires via local legislation. In New York State, the most effective way to do this is by using environmental law AGAINST big solar. If you can find an endangered or rare plant, pollinator, or animal anywhere near the land, call an environmental engineer and march into town hall.

• Those in ownership of farmland: if possible, please don’t sell. Not to solar farms anyway. There will be other buyers for your farm… people who WANT it to stay a farm. I know they exist because I am one of them!

What would happen if 88% of our farmland turned to solar farms tomorrow?

Imagine if nearly 90% of the land that’s currently being used to feed us and animals disappeared this year. Where would our food come from? We’d have a food autonomy crisis the likes none of us in America have seen in our lifetimes. We’d be entirely reliant on foreign food supply and vertical farms managed inside commercial warehouses.

Big solar is jacked up with state grant money right now that has them engaging in aggressive land grabbing. They aren’t concerned with the long-term effects of turning farmland into solar fields. They are strictly in this for the money, as a member of the solar empire out of California admitted to me last week. It’s up to all of us to consider the consequences of allowing these solar ‘farms’ into our communities.

I break down in this article the environmental consequences of solar panels leaching chemicals into our fertile soil.

We need to call the green energy movement what it is: a scam

These people aren’t out here to improve the environment and create food access for all. They’re exploiting the very land they claim to want to protect. And they know it.

I will leave you with this:

Last night I attended a dinner put on by Farm Credit East at a fairgrounds near my farm. Over 800 farmers and their families were in attendance. Dairy farms, orchards, berry farms, wineries, and maple farms were there to hand out free products. It was a coming-together of the Upstate New York agricultural community that would put a smile on anyone’s face.

As we all sat together and ate our dinners, I looked around and realized this solar energy land grab isn’t anything new to these people. American farmers have been taken advantage of since the founding of this country. The people that work so hard to put food on our plates are the first ones forgotten when state governments push out phony agendas to make their reelection campaign sound appealing.

These people deserve our respect. They don’t deserve to be pressured on their doorsteps to hand over the land that belonged to their great-grandparents.

Solar panels belong in smarter places. Not on the idyllic, fertile farmland that makes America what it is today.

For those of you feeling the call to buy a few acres and do right by the land, I try to share everything I know about doing just that here on this Substack. Here are some articles of mine on investing in land, finding the right farmland for your family, and financing it.

More to come. Stay tuned.

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