Wind and solar power can generate vital profits for Texas’ dwindling farms and ranches
Source: Smiley N. Pool, Dallas Morning News
GAINESVILLE – Above a spartan field near the Oklahoma border, scant clouds skate across the North Texas sky.
Hundreds of solar panels slowly track the morning sun’s path for a direct hit from an energy source 94 million miles away. But not the sheep. They’re tracking JR Howard’s gray Ford F-250 — weaving between rows of solar panels as he lays on the horn. It’s feeding time on this April morning.
Texas lost almost 18,000 farms and ranches, and more than 1.5 million acres of agricultural land, from 2017-22. Wind and solar power can provide a second income to keep more farmers and ranchers in business.
Howard, owner of Texas Solar Sheep, has found himself part of a burgeoning industry combining Texans’ ranching sensibilities with the ascendancy of solar energy, a booming electricity source.
