Solar Grazing Budget Templates

This is the beginning of solar graziers developing economic models to show how they incorporate solar grazing into their business.

The templates below are freely available to all solar graziers and solar site owners; however, we ask you to please consider making a donation to ASGA by clicking the donate button below.

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Click on the name of the model/budget to access the template.

Mount Morris Agrivoltaic Study
* Study includes Morris Ridge Solar Energy Grazing Enterprise Budget.

Specifics on this model
  • Co-locating sheep grazing with utility-scale solar photo- voltaic (PV) systems is a relatively new trend in the United States, and thus reviews of successful business models and availability of estimated enterprise budgets are limited.
  • Many studies report on the cost savings of grazing sheep versus traditional mechanical mowing and trimming for vegetative management of solar sites, but few report on the profitability to the grazier from grazing sheep or lambs.
  • To date, this nascent industry reports varying returns depending upon scale of PV systems, region of the country, and the business model adopted by the sheep grazier.
  • This study builds upon current literature by estimating sheep graziers’ returns from grazing a utility-scale PV system in western New York—the Morris Ridge Solar Energy Center.

*Excerpt from the Mount Morris Agrivoltaic Study: Morris Ridge Solar Energy Grazing Enterprise Budget (starts on page 7 of the study)

University of Maryland Solar Grazing Budget

*Template will automatically download when you click on the name or image of the budget. Contact Susan at sschoen@umd.edu for the password to unlock the spreadsheet.

Specifics on this model
  • The 2016 Detailed Sheep Enterprise Budget is a multi-worksheet budget that helps you plan all aspects of your sheep enterprise:  marketing, feeding, health care, and investment analysis.
  • The budget is suitable for either hair or wool sheep. It is suitable for enterprises in which the sale of market lambs is the primary income source.

*From the Maryland Small Ruminant website

NC Choices Sheep Grazing Solar Farm Budget

*Template will automatically download when you click on the name or image of the budget.

Specifics on this model

This template was prepared for general information purposes only and is intended to provide a starting point for Farmers as they develop Budgets for use in their business.

*From the NC Choices website

Hudson Valley Solar Grazing Model

*Template will automatically download when you click on the name or image of the budget.

Specifics on this model
  • Developed in 2019
  • Multigenerational farm family located in New York State
  • Array will be over 100 acres located on the family's home farm
  • Grazing will occur on the lands the family leased to a solar firm
  • Solar lease is 25 years so grazing is geared towards a 25 year + horizon
  • Family has experience in the production of cattle, hay, corn, soy, and a variety of other cash crops
  • There are off-farm jobs and other sources of farm income not represented in this model
  • Model is heavy on investment in infrastructure with a view towards employing several family members
  • Model assumes some outside help while the family learns sheep and solar grazing
What's next?
  • ASGA hopes to obtain more funding to create additional models, including the more traditional model where the grazing is not occurring on the home farm
  • Solar graziers can download this model, insert and delete fields to tweak this for accuracy in their region
  • ASGA will ask graziers in a year to reconvene, submitting anonymous versions for discussion.
  • ASGA will generate a database over time of solar grazing business models and budget for the community to exchange and share.

Join us! Participate in improving on this model. It's just the beginning!