America has been blessed with the best, most productive farmland in the world. Our farmers feed our families, fuel our economy and anchor our rural communities. But over the past decade, we’ve watched a troubling trend emerge and threaten the fabric of our nation. Acre by acre, American farmland has been increasingly taken out of production and covered with industrial-scale solar installations.
According to USDA data and independent analyses, about 70% of all solar projects built between 2009 and 2020 were installed in rural areas, and 83% of present-day utility-scale solar installations sit directly on farmland. The American Farmland Trust estimates that roughly 1.25 million acres of farmland have already been converted for solar production,
acreage that once grew food, supported livestock, and sustained local economies.
Some counties have been hit even harder. A recent Reuters analysis found that 12% of all USDA-classified prime farmland in Pulaski County, Ind., is already under contract for future solar development. And nationally, USDA research shows that 424,000 acres of rural farmland were directly affected by wind and solar projects in 2020 alone.
These pressures didn’t happen by accident. Under the Biden administration, billions of dollars in federal subsidies and "green" energy tax credits pushed large-scale solar developments onto farmland, often with panels imported from China.
As a result, solar construction has more than doubled since 2020. These insane "investments" distorted land values and undermined local agriculture. Farmers were put in the impossible position of competing against Washington-backed, foreign-supported energy companies.
Thankfully, President Donald J. Trump is charting a different path.
Last summer, USDA announced that it will no longer fund solar panels on productive farmland and will ban the use of panels manufactured by foreign adversaries in USDA-supported projects. This is a needed course correction and a win for our rural communities, a win for our farmers, and a win for America. It restores common sense, protects domestic agriculture, and ensures taxpayer dollars are not used to undermine our food security or benefit our adversaries.
To be clear, farmers will always have the right to make decisions about their own land, including installing solar if they so choose. But American taxpayers should not be subsidizing the removal of farmland from production, and we should never incentivize projects that weaken our agricultural base or fuel dependence on Chinese-made technology.
Congressional Republicans have already begun stepping up to the plate. The Working Families Tax Cuts Act that President Trump signed into law last summer ended the Biden-era Green New Deal tax credits, which fueled the massive expansion of solar panels on our farmland. Several other bills have been introduced that would reinforce this progress and strengthen long-term farmland protections.
The stakes could not be higher.
At a time when global instability is on the rise, and other nations are tightening their grip on critical food and energy markets, America cannot afford to weaken the one strategic advantage we have always had: the ability to feed ourselves and the world.
This is why we are calling on Congress − Republicans and Democrats alike − to work with President Trump and USDA to codify the prohibition on taxpayer-funded solar development on productive farmland into law. Our nation’s food security should not be a partisan issue.
Farmers are the backbone of America. They show up in every season, in every kind of weather, to do work that cannot be outsourced, automated, or delayed. We owe it to them, and to future generations, to protect the land they depend on.
Now is the time to stand with American farmers, safeguard America’s farmland, and again put Farmers First.
Secretary Brooke L. Rollins serves as the 33rd United States Secretary of Agriculture, overseeing national farming, food safety, and rural development programs. Congressman Dave Taylor is a Republican from Clermont County representing Ohio’s 2nd Congressional District.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Taxpayers shouldn't subsidize solar panels on prime farmland | Opinion
