This past week, over 30 ranchers from Texas and states as far away as New York and Massachusetts participated in a packed three-day solar grazing training in Sulphur Springs, TX.
 
The ASGA Certified Training Workshop was hosted by American Lamb Board and sponsored by Enel North America, who allowed us to use their Stampede Solar site for the onsite demonstration. JR Howard from Texas Solar Sheep grazes the Enel site with his flock of happy sheep and we were able to see them in action.
 
Over three days, ALB’s Camren Maierle led participants through an intensive course on the solar grazing training standards set by ASGA, which cover the basic subjects a sheep rancher should be versed in to manage vegetation on a solar site. This included business planning and budgets, calculating stocking rates, equipment, sheep management techniques, contracts and bids, and more. They touched on the whole breadth of the solar grazing enterprise.

JR Howard led the site tour and gave everyone a live run through of his sheep operation and his mechanical mowing operation, including all of the equipment he uses and how he works with his solar industry clients. JR and other experienced solar graziers who helped out, including Chad Raines from Key Farms, helped students understand the service provider mindset that is so crucial to solar grazing success.
 
One of the most important aspects of the in-person element is giving ranchers a chance to see the solar site components and understand how the sheep operation interacts with them.
 
For that part, Enel’s Joseph Quick (Stampede’s site manager) and his team were fantastic hosts and resources. They explained safety requirements and went through all of the components of the solar array. They also discussed their expectations for vegetation management and how sheep ranchers can best work and communicate with site teams. Joe and his team were very generous with their time and knowledge. They are huge fans of solar grazing and it was exciting to see a team so supportive of ranchers.

The event was a wonderful opportunity for many ASGA members to put faces to virtual names and meet for the first time. ASGA’s Kevin Richardson joined the site tour and had a chance to interact with many members. These in-person events are great for bringing our members closer together and several participants signed up as new members! It was also exciting to see ranchers that ASGA’s team had met at conferences like ASI and NatGLC become interested in grazing and join the training to explore the opportunity!
 
None of this could have happened without Enel’s amazing Sustainability Team who made this happen: Jesse Puckett and Marcus Krembs. Jesse and JR Howard were a huge help in coordinating this event with Camren Maierle. Their support allowed us to train a new crop of solar graziers who will help push this industry forward.