While herding sheep is an age-old adage for leadership, breeding and raising sheep is where the money is, according to a new study led by Western researchers.
But not just any sheep. Far more profitable are "solar" sheep, raised specifically to trim grass and weeds under traditional solar panels or agrivoltaic arrays. Agrivoltaics is a portmanteau for agriculture and photovoltaics, more commonly known as solar panels, and describes the simultaneous use of farmland for agriculture and solar energy production.
The study, led by engineering and Ivey Business School professor Joshua Pearce, shows utilizing sheep on solar farms was not only lucrative for farmers but offered a promising path forward to augment agriculture with solar technology. The findings were published by the high impact journal Applied Energy.
"Agrivoltaic sheep are a simple and easy solution for the co-existence of agriculture and solar energy on Canadian farms. The sheep like the shade, plus the solar panels increase grass yield and protect sheep from predators," said Pearce, Western's John M. Thompson Chair in Innovation. "Conversely, sheep eliminate the need for herbicides or costly grass cutting on the solar farms. And shepherds have a guaranteed source of revenue. Everyone wins."
Despite steady growth and early adopters for agrivoltaics, the study describes enormous untapped potential in Canada for breeding sheep at both traditional and agrivoltaic farms. Canada currently imports more than $250 million worth of mutton and lamb annually.
"Canada had an early start in North America in sheep-based agrivoltaics, where sheep would be brought in to trim the grass on large-scale solar farms," said Pearce. "Now the U.S. is all in. Texas tripled their sheep population with agrivoltaics while Canada has fallen behind."
Sheep, solar panels are 'strategic partnership'
Pearce collaborated with professional shepherd Rafael Lara, who owns and operates The Lara Costa farm with his wife Gabriella in Vittoria, Ont. The Lara Costa is a multifaceted corporation that specializes in vegetation management for solar farms, where sheep are used for natural grazing, contributing to both sustainability and agricultural innovation.
"The strategic partnership between sheep production and solar farms is certainly one of the most fantastic alternatives for the growth of both the sheep industry and for clean electricity production through solar panels," said Lara, who studied animal science at Universidade de São Paulo in Brazil.
Lara, a director of Ontario Sheep Farmers, manages nearly 2,000 acres, utilizing more than 3,000 sheep. Having installed solar technology infrastructure across his farmland, Lara can attest that land maintained by sheep performs better than traditional pastures.
"The soil's productive potential is higher than that of a regular pasture in the same area," said Lara. "Partial shading of the pasture also contributes to moisture retention, improving its resilience to climatic extremes."
Using solar farms for lamb production also increases shade for the animals, makes nearly 100 per cent of the land grazable and, as a byproduct, provides high-quality perimeter fencing and 24-hour surveillance cameras for farm security.
In a 2022 study, which supports the new research, Pearce and Robert Handler from Michigan Tech University showed sheep are the most eco-friendly way to manage vegetation for solar farms.
The research team, which also included Western alum Adam Gasch, designed and conducted a number of case studies for the new study. One case was a small-scale, family-owned farm with a 200-kilowatt solar panel system generating 262,430 kilowatt hours per year, or enough electricity to power 25 homes. A large-scale industrial solar farm with a 465-megawatt (MW) photovoltaic network generating - enough electricity to power more than 150,000 homes - was also investigated.
"This is the first study to take a hard look at the economics of breeding sheep and it shows modern day shepherds are actually doing really well financially," said Pearce.
Enormous moneymaking potential
Pearce and his collaborators also examined the financial impact of breeding ewes (female sheep) for lambs on the farm compared to purchasing lambs from auction.
In every case, the earnings for shepherds before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization are higher than agriculture industry standards. This is a direct result of the increased and reliable revenue source of grazing services. The return on investments for the breeding ewe model ranges from 16 to 31 per cent and the auction model from 22 to 43 per cent. While the auction model offers greater potential return on investment, the breeding model exhibits higher earning margins, reflecting trade-offs between operational efficiency and initial investments.
Regardless, sheep doing what sheep do best - eating greens - can make lots of cash for shepherds.
"There is an enormous opportunity to return millions of dollars currently used to import lamb back to Canadian farmers, if we simply started using the grass under solar panels," said Pearce.