Integrating solar panels allows farmers to create a high tech, multi-revenue stream, generating electricity alongside livestock. This is critical in West Virginia, where 68 percent of agricultural producers currently rely on off-farm revenue to survive. Solar arrays are particularly beneficial on hillsides and mountainsides that are suitable for livestock grazing, but cannot support row-crop agriculture.

In particular, sheep farmers benefit from reduced stress to the herd, as ground temperatures are cooler beneath solar panels during peak sunlight hours. Sheep are well-suited for grazing beneath elevated panels, where they can manage vegetation around the array structures.

Landowners can lease their land to solar developers for from $300 to $4,000 an acre annually, or own systems that provide an annual return on investment of 10 to 15 percent for up to 30 years.

If elected, I will work to submit legislation that specifically allows farmers to receive direct, tax-exempt, compensation for the solar energy produced by arrays on their land.

In addition, I will work to pass legislation that regulates the utilization of arable land for non-agricultural purposes under the control of the Department of Agriculture.  Commissioner Leonhardt failed to protect almost 200 acres of farmland in Mason County. We need to limit the power he and the Department of Commerce have in taking arable land away from food and textile production.