Early I was reading a discussion on the disappearance of farmland. Solar farms came up. After reading some more comments, I thought this community would like to hear from a landowner that has been through the process.

Before I get into specifics regarding the landowners, I want to address how solar farms can save rural communities. Like most rural communities across the country my hometown is slowly dying. What little services that we have are being cut. Our volunteer EMT and fire stations have been shuttered and consolidated, leading to even longer emergency response times. We all live in these areas for different reasons, but almost none of us want to see "civilization" encroach into our peaceful existence. This is where solar farms can save our communities. The tax revenue is not only very hefty from solar farms, but it also comes with no strings attached. Unlike any other development, solar farms don't need any additional infrastructure financed by the county. They don't bring many jobs, which is good. Any other development that would generate tax revenue would snowball into what we all fear, suburban sprawl. If an industrial park were to go in, or commercial development, this would lead to more housing developments, which leads the county to needing to expand and spend on additional infrastructure, schooling and more. A solar farm allows a poor county to generate much needed tax revenue that will allow these communities to survive while avoiding suburban sprawl. Our county couldn't really say no to the tax revenue in the end. Solar farms will help keep the backwoods what it is and not turn it into surburbia.

On to the landowners. It took months of family discussions that were tearful at times and heated at times for us to finally get off the fence. Here is how our lease is broken down.

-25 year lease with 5 year optional extension with landowner approval

-$900/acre annually

-We still own it

-After the lease, the land must be reclaimed, including 24" below the surface

-They leased 800 acres, but only covered 450. They are restricted to how many panels can be placed on the entire acreage, not how many per acre. This means the more land they lease, the tighter the spacing they can have for the panels. The 350 acres that is leased, but not under panels, will act as buffers, nature preserves and corridors that we can still hunt.

-Our contract has a 2% annual increase for inflation. This means after the 25 year lease, we will have been paid $15 million.

I completely understand why people don't want to look at them, we made sure to include DEEP buffers near the road, but opposition to them strictly over what you see when you drive by is very short-sighted. It's inviting larger county development when the county inevitably goes broke and has to look somewhere to find tax revenue.

Lastly, when you think about the neighbors that leased to a solar farm, think of these numbers and all the reasons why they said yes. Next, think about the tax revenue and how it is acting as a shield from further, more extensive, development. Please keep things respectful in the comments and I'll answer any questions that I can.