MAINE PUBLIC • September 30, 2024
Solar companies are competing with farmers for land. And developers are reportedly willing to pay annual leases of $1,000 per acre. "To give up farmland of any kind seems crazy in that situation, and prime farmland is just so rare," said Nate Clark of Reed Farm, a dairy in Windsor. New regulations proposed by the state are supposed to balance competing land uses. Developers of solar arrays bigger than five acres would need soil tests, and a permit and would also pay fees based on the land's agricultural value. Funds would be used for future land conservation. The aim is to create a disincentive for solar developers to target farmland.