Clean energy foes, from the Trump administration to state legislators to some community members, have long complained that large solar installations are threatening farmland and rural America’s pastoral way of life.

The claims are especially salient in North Carolina, which is both a top-five state for solar deployment and a behemoth in agriculture. Fighting

​

“

Big Solar” has become a passionate cause among a small but vocal group of conservatives in this purple state, where lawmakers recently advanced anti-solar legislation dubbed the Farmland Protection Act.

But a 

new analysis

finds that, in actuality, solar fields occupy a tiny fraction of farmland in North Carolina — less than one-third of a percent of the nearly

11

million acres classified as agricultural.

The report by the nonprofit North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association, now in its third edition, draws on data from the U.S. Geological Survey, satellite imagery, and state registrations of solar projects with

1

 megawatt or more of capacity. The previous version,

from

2022

, found similar results: Solar that year took up

0

.

28

% of agricultural land.

“

A narrative we run into pretty regularly is that solar is taking up a lot of farmland,” said Daniel Pate, director of engagement for the association and a report contributor. But, he said,

​

“

the number continues to be minuscule.”

The study comes as Trump officials invoke similar criticisms to stymie large-scale solar, including by

kneecapping a program that helps farmers

install their own solar arrays.

It also comes as local restrictions on renewable energy, including solar,

gain steam around the country

.

In North Carolina, a looming threat to solar is the Farmland Protection Act pending in the Republican-controlled state legislature. Sponsored by a longtime solar critic and onetime farmer, Republican Rep. Jimmy Dixon of rural Duplin County, House Bill

729

included a complete ban on large-scale solar on agricultural land when it was filed last April. The provision was later removed, but the bill now phases out county property tax breaks for large solar, a deal-breaker for many developers. With backing from the state Farm Bureau and the state’s agricultural commissioner, the measure has cleared two House committees and awaits a hearing in two more before it can advance to the floor.

Organized opposition, often funded by fossil fuel interests, has unquestionably helped stoke such resistance to renewable energy. But in rural communities, the lingering perception that large-scale solar installations are overtaking the landscape can also come from a place of good faith.

Without doubt, the vast majority of utility-scale solar fields in the state — about

34

,

000

out of

40

,

000

 acres — are on agricultural land, according to the report. Arrays that have replaced crops and trees are often visible from the road, since that puts them closer to power lines and substations, creating a starker perception of loss. And in some places — especially in wide, flat eastern North Carolina — the concentration of large-scale solar on farmland is substantially higher than the statewide figure. In Halifax County, for instance, solar takes up a full

1

% of agricultural land and is on pace to triple its share in the next few years,

according to the Center for Energy Education

, a local nonprofit.

But despite concerns about its footprint, solar can also help rural communities — to say nothing of its benefits for the climate. Even with the incentives Dixon seeks to abolish, counties are earning vastly more property tax revenue from farmland with solar than from farmland without, researchers say.

Plus, farmers who lease their land for panels have reported earning about $

750

to $

1

,

400

per acre per year, according to the report. That steady income can provide a critical supplement to the boom-and-bust revenue inherent in raising crops and animals. That’s one reason

Halifax retreated from a proposal last year

that would have effectively prohibited new projects: Elected officials heard from constituents who said they would have lost their family farmland but for solar.

Some in the state’s farming community are also enthusiastic about the promise of

agrivoltaics

, which would allow them to collect revenue from solar while using the land underneath photovoltaic panels for crops, pollinator-friendly plants, or grazing.

Even so, many in the state’s powerful

$

111

billion agricultural industry

remain deeply skeptical of solar. Their distrust is likely exacerbated by decades of bitter battle with environmental advocates — some of the same groups promoting clean energy — over pollution from hog and poultry factory farms.

Jerry Carey, market intelligence specialist for the North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association and another contributor to the report, came face-to-face with some of those skeptics when presenting the findings at a recent meeting with

​

“

influential farmers.”

“

They’re willing to have a conversation. But they don’t want to hear the numbers. They know what they know. They know what they see,” Carey said. As for the dream of agrivoltaics, he added,

​

“

One guy literally said,

​

‘

I don’t want to hear about bees and butterflies.’”

Elizabeth Ouzts

is a contributing reporter at Canary Media who covers North Carolina and Virginia.

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