UK farmer grows from 20 sheep on 18 acres to 200 sheep on 250 acres with solar grazing

For first-generation sheep farmer Hannah Thorogood, gaining access to land beneath solar panels has opened a new chapter in her farming journey. She began with just 20 sheep on 18 acres in Lincolnshire, a scale she says was all she could afford at the time. Today, her flock has grown to more than 200 sheep, while the land available to her has expanded to 250 acres. Free grazing on solar sites has helped the change, where sheep manage grass beneath the panels. Thorogood says the arrangement has given her a “massive leg-up” in an industry where land can be difficult to secure.How solar grazing helped Hannah expandSolar grazing involves using sheep to manage vegetation growing beneath and around solar panels. Solar farms need grassland to be kept under control, and the Guardian reported that maintaining a typical site can involve tens of acres of grass that would otherwise need mowing or spraying. Those conventional maintenance methods can cost as much as £50,000 a year.Sheep provide an alternative because they can graze in spaces that machinery cannot easily reach. They move between solar panel supports and consume vegetation without heavy mowing equipment. For farmers such as Thorog...