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Episode Description
#316 Rebekah Pierce runs a regenerative sheep farm in upstate New York and has cracked the code on making solar farms work for agriculture. Her new book "Agri Energy" reveals how combining solar panels with farming creates a win for developers, farmers, and rural communities.
The land use math is stunning. The US dedicates 30 million acres to growing corn for ethanol fuel. Solar panels are 100 times more efficient at converting land into energy. We need just 1% of US land (23 million acres) to supply all our electricity with solar alone. Converting those ethanol acres to dual-use solar could power 100% of electricity needs AND a nationwide EV fleet.
Rebekah Pierce is the author of "Agri Energy" (Island Press, November 2025) and owner of JR Pierce Family Farm in Clinton County, New York. She started with backyard chickens in 2015 and now grazes sheep across half a dozen solar projects in three counties. She writes about regenerative agriculture, solar grazing, and the intersection of farming and renewable energy.
Key Discussion Points:
- Why corn-to-ethanol uses massive land area with terrible efficiency (100 to 200x worse than solar)
- How solar grazing cuts O&M costs for developers while creating farmer income
- The real threat to farmland: urbanization takes far more land than solar ever will
- 100,000 farms lost between 2011-2018 as average farmer age hits 58
- Technical requirements: water access, secure fencing, interior paddocks for rotational grazing
- Topsoil loss: one pound per bushel of corn produced
- Resources: American Solar Grazing Association (ASGA) and REFA (Renewable Energy Farmers of America)
The book covers far more than sheep and solar. Rebekah researched all the ways agriculture and renewables intersect, from wind farms to battery storage to elevated tracking systems for larger livestock.
Connect with Rebekah Pierce
Website: www.jrpiercefamilyfarm.com/
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/rebekah-pierce-writer/
Book: "Agri Energy" available November 2025 on Amazon and Island Press
https://islandpress.org/books/agri-energy#desc
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