A recent story from CBS News highlights a powerful shift happening in American agriculture: farmers finding new life and profitability through solar grazing. The feature profiles Chad Raines, ASGA Treasurer and fourth-generation Texas cotton farmer, who left behind traditional row cropping after years of financial hardship to build a thriving solar grazing business.

Like many small and mid-sized farmers in the U.S., Chad faced an uphill battle. Low crop prices, years of poor yields, and rising operational costs left him with few viable options.

“After about three to four years of just not making any progress… we were losing money and that debt was rolling over,” Chad told CBS. “I had to think outside the box.”

That path led him to solar grazing. Chad now grazes 6,000 sheep across 20,000 acres in partnership with solar developers like Enel North America, which operates one of the largest solar farms in the country near Waco, Texas. His operation keeps vegetation in check, even under the most difficult conditions.

“The sheep work when it’s raining, the sheep work when it’s muddy, the sheep work at night,” said Adam Sotirakopoulos, who runs the Enel site.

The results speak for themselves. According to the CBS report, Chad says he would have lost nearly $200,000 if he had grown cotton last year. Instead, solar grazing helped him clear a profit of close to $300,000, all while building a business he plans to pass on to his sons.

This story illustrates the growing role solar grazing plays in transforming agricultural economics—especially for farmers looking to diversify income, reduce financial risk, and stay rooted in their land and communities.

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ASGA is proud to have shared Chad’s story as our first featured Case Study earlier this year, attached below.