Open Road Renewables’ Frasier Solar project has signed a Letter of Intent with New Slate Land Management, a Knox County-based company, to use sheep grazing for vegetation management at the project’s site. 

“The sheep grazing operation at Frasier Solar will not only help preserve the agricultural heritage of Knox County but will also create jobs for local sheep farmers,” said Craig Adair, vice president of development at Open Road Renewables. “Dual solar-agricultural land use is an important part of our commitment to partnering and working closely with farmers, landowners, and the Knox County community.”

“Farmers today, especially young and emerging farmers like us, struggle with land access as one of the biggest hurdles to having a livestock business. Frasier Solar’s dedication to working with agriculture presents a huge opportunity that we would not otherwise have in Knox County,” said Brad Carothers, who runs New Slate Land Management. “The jobs and agricultural production that sheep grazing at Frasier will generate would be a wonderful boost to the local economy.”

The Letter of Intent states that most of the 840 acres of land within fences in the Frasier Solar project area will be open ground between and around rows of solar panels that will be fully vegetated for the life of the project and that rotational sheep grazing will be used to as the primary means manage these vegetated areas. 

Frasier Solar will plant robust ground vegetation in order to preserve the soil for cultivation, provide erosion control and stormwater management benefits, and serve as a pasture and food source for sheep. The height of the vegetation will be actively managed by sheep grazing to prevent shading the solar panels. 

Frasier Solar’s Preliminary Vegetation Management Plan was developed with input from New Slate Land Management and has been submitted to the Ohio Power Siting Board.