Livestock

Sheep are known to be successful at grazing agrivoltaics installations, functioning as both a biological mower in effect while also providing a farmer with additional access to fenced-in land for pasturing animals.  

However, faculty researcher Justine Vanden Heuvel, who regularly works in viticultural systems thought why not try pigs?  She's currently a partner in a multi-year trial assessing the soil health and compatibility of kune pigs to viticultural operations, and seeking to deploy a vertical array interspersed with rows of grapes and pigs actively grazing in the array system.  This type of agrivoltaics may not be dual use but triple use in the envisioned future.  

furry pigs in the grass under grape vines
Kune pigs rest under grape vines at Cornell AgriTech.
sheep graze between grape vines
Sheep graze between grape vines at Cornell AgriTech

Research Area Team

Richard C. Stedman
Richard Stedman

Interim Director

Ashley School of Global Development and the Environment

Richard Stedman
Justine Vanden Heuvel
Justine Vanden Heuvel

Professor

Horticulture Section

School of Integrative Plant Science

Justine Vanden Heuvel
  • justine [at] cornell.edu
Sustainable viticulture production
Ecophysiological factors and their impact on fruit and wine composition
Computational tools for vineyard management

Related research

Vegetation can be managed successfully by sheep, providing a significant opportunity for large scale solar developers in avoiding the expenses of mechanically mowing while providing access to pasture for sheep farms.  Research conducted at Cornell provides advice on the types of forages that are successful in large scale solar systems, while also exploring the economic feasibility of solar sheep grazing for farmers. 

This webinar for farmers recording in 2020 explains CALS research to Cornell Cooperative Extension of Jefferson County. 

Solar energy developers and farmers need land to operate, and a Cornell research project aims to demonstrate how co-locating solar arrays on farmland can be an environmentally friendly way to benefit both the renewable energy and agriculture industries.

Large-scale solar encompasses multi-acre solar sites of ground-mounted solar panels, feeding electricity to wholesale buyers or community-based consumers. Currently, 1,462.93 megawatts (MW) of utility scale solar is installed in NYS, equating to approximately 10,200 acres of solar sites (5 to 8 acres are required per MW) powering 260,884 homes with 1.33% of the total state’s electricity demand met by solar energy. An increase of utility scale solar sites is forecasted to reach another ~3,200 MW (~22,000 acres) between 2020 and 2023.