Chad Raines, a fourth-generation Texas cotton farmer, stopped planting cotton after years of losses and found a very different way to make a living from his land and livestock. Instead of relying on crops, he began moving sheep between solar farms, where the animals graze on grass growing beneath and around the panels. The change transformed the economics of his farm. According to CBS News, Raines estimated a cotton crop would have cost him nearly $200,000 in losses, while his sheep-grazing operation brought in close to $300,000 in profit.
How did a Texas farmer turn sheep and solar farms into a $300,000 profit
Raines had spent generations in the cotton business, but the numbers were becoming increasingly difficult to justify. According to CBS News, several years of poor harvests and low cotton prices left the family unable to make progress. Debt continued to build, forcing Raines to consider an option far from the traditional row-crop farming his family had followed for four generations.The solution was solar grazing. Raines began providing sheep to solar companies so the animals could feed on vegetation around their panels. Instead of using the flock simply to produce meat, he was being paid for the work the sheep performed on the solar sites.As reported by the Western Producer, Raines did not plant a single cotton seed in the 2024 growing season. He instead rented most of his Texas farmland to a neighbour and spent his time taking his sheep to solar farms. He had agreements with five solar companies, making the grazing work more profitable than growing cotton.
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What made solar farms useful for sheep grazing
Solar farms need vegetation kept under control so grass and other plants do not interfere with their equipment or make maintenance more difficult. Traditionally, this work can involve machinery and workers repeatedly cutting vegetation.Sheep offer a different approach. They can move between rows of panels and feed directly on the grass. One such example of a solar farm is the large Enel North America solar farm near Waco, Texas, with more than one million panels, where sheep are used to manage vegetation. According to CBS, Site manager Adam Sotirakopoulos said that the animals could continue working in conditions when machines might be less practical, including rain, mud and at night.The Western Producer reported that managed grazing can also reduce costs for solar companies. Silicon Ranch, a Tennessee-based solar company, said it saves about 20% in operating expenses on a site with managed grazing. The company noted that paying shepherds can be less expensive than keeping mowing crews and machinery working continuously.
How sheep grazing became a profitable farm business
Raines did not depend entirely on grazing payments. According to The Western Producer, he also began selling lamb meat to a restaurant supplier. Together, the solar grazing income and lamb sales helped him make about $300,000 in profit. He said the solar payments covered his expenses, including labour and about $2,000 a month spent on food for guard dogs. His son also returned to the farm to help with the growing operation.As reported by CBS News, Raines was grazing about 6,000 sheep across 20,000 acres. The scale gave the family a business that could also provide work for his sons, giving the farm a possible future beyond cotton.The arrangement also changed the nature of the farmer’s income. Instead of growing a crop and then accepting whatever price the market offered, grazing contracts gave him a more predictable payment for a service. Other farmers described solar grazing as a way to create steadier income during difficult agricultural years.
Solar grazing is spreading across American farmland
Raines is part of a much larger shift. The Western Producer reported that sheep grazed on more than 129,000 acres of US solar sites in October 2024, compared with 15,000 acres in 2021. The number of sheep working on solar sites also rose from about 80,000 to more than 113,000 between January and October of that year.According to CyberGuy, sheeps can replace gas-powered mowing crews, reducing maintenance costs and emissions. It also highlighted the Texas operation as an example of how grazing contracts can create another source of income for farmers.For solar companies, the appeal is practical. Sheep naturally eat the vegetation that would otherwise need to be controlled. For farmers, the same animals can generate income without requiring them to plant another crop.
Importance of this shift for American farmers
The change comes at a difficult time for American agriculture. The Western Producer reported that US cotton futures had fallen nearly 40% over 2 years, while American exports had also declined as cheaper Brazilian supplies and weaker Chinese demand affected the market.Nearly 40% of small and mid-sized US farms operated at a loss in the previous year, according to a 2024 US Department of Agriculture report. For farmers facing high costs and falling returns, finding an additional income source can make the difference between keeping a farm operating and leaving agriculture altogether.For Raines, that choice was particularly stark. Solar grazing gave him another route, turning a difficult farming year into a profitable one while keeping his family involved in agriculture.The result is a unique partnership between livestock and renewable energy. Rows of solar panels provide the setting, while sheep provide the maintenance, and farmers gain an income that traditional cotton farming could no longer reliably provide.
