Is solar threatening North Carolina farms, or is there room for cooperation?
Every morning, when Jim Howie takes his cattle out to pasture, he's following in family traditions that go back generations. His family's owned this land just outside of downtown Waxhaw since the 1860s, and Howie says it's always been used for farming.
'If you go back to the 50s and 60s, agriculture was Waxhaw's main source of income,' he said. 'Everybody had some ties to agriculture.'
Now, Waxhaw and much of Union County are rapidly changing. Howie said farms are disappearing, and in their place, the county's seeing far more housing development and often, solar.
'I'm very much a supporter of alternative, alternative sources of energy, but is taking productive farmland the best way to do that?' he said.
According to the Solar Energy Industries Association, North Carolina ranks 5th in the nation for solar development, but recently that development has seen a backlash.
North Carolina bill would make it harder to build solar in the name of protecting farmland
Several counties have instated moratoriums on solar development and House Bill 729, which is making its way through the statehouse aims to slow the industry further.
Titled, 'The Farmland Protection Act,' the bill would remove property tax abatements for new solar energy systems, raising the tax liability for such projects by 500%. It would also increase regulatory constraints by requiring the North Carolina Utilities Commission to refuse to issue a certificate of public convenience and necessity for a utility-scale solar project if the project is to be sited on land currently being used for agricultural production.
The bill's primary sponsor, Rep. Jimmy Dixon (R-Duplin), described the bill as a way to ensure solar does not take up valuable, productive farmland and that it's paying its fair share to the counties most-often used for development, rural predominantly agricultural communities.
'You travel across the state of North Carolina, and it's occupying the best farmland in the state,' he said. 'I think by experience now we see that this is an industry that does not need incentivizing, and it needs to pay its way.'
Joel Olsen sees the industry quite differently. His solar development company, O2, which has built about 25 solar facilities, primarily in North Carolina, does so with agriculture in mind.
His Montgomery Sheep Farm is a primary example. The property houses 600,000 solar modules, a few chicken coops, and seven herds of sheep.
'The sheep need the shade, they need the shelter from heat, the shelter from the rain and the solar really needs the vegetation to be kept at an acceptable height so that duality use of the land is fantastic,' Olsen said.
Much of his solar power goes to farm operations, but he's also connected to the Duke Energy Progress grid to feed roughly 40 million kWh of power to the nearby town of Biscoe annually.
'That's enough to power about 3,000 average homes,' he said.
Besides energy, Olsen said the farm is also paying far more in taxes than it would have without the solar installations.
Agricultural land has state tax exemptions, so it generally pays a lower overall cost to its county government. When that land is used for solar, it comes out of that tax exemption and Olsen said, in his case, the Montgomery Sheep Farm had to pay three years of back taxes on the land.
Finally, there's the taxes on the installation itself, the personal property tax. According to current North Carolina state law, the solar energy system gets an 80% tax abatement. HB 729 would change that to 0% for all future solar projects.
'That really pulls the rug out from the investments that have been made in North Carolina, the jobs that were created during construction and the opportunity to do agriculture here,' Olsen said.
For farmers like Howie, this bill represents an opportunity to push back against at least one pressure point that's been changing the face of the communities they've worked in their entire lives.
'I'm very much a proponent of property rights, somebody being able to do with their land what they would like, but taking farmland out of production is a, it's going to be a bigger and bigger problem,' he said.
Olsen said he's sympathetic to concerns about losing farmland, but he believes this bill is the wrong answer. He said farms like his show that agriculture and solar can be done together, and there are ways to encourage practices that don't pit the industries against each other.
'The way you develop this land matters,' he said. 'If you think about it upfront, and you incentivize people to do the right thing instead of trying to institute regulatory delays, regulatory fees and other taxes, on an industry then you're gonna have a benefit for the farmland rather than a lost opportunity.'
As of Tuesday April 15, HB 729 has made it through the House Finance Committee. It will face a vote in the Agriculture Committee Tuesday morning.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Associated Press
10 hours ago
- Associated Press
INVESTOR NOTICE: Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP Announces that Red Cat Holdings, Inc. (RCAT) Investors with Substantial Losses Have Opportunity to Lead Investor Class Action Lawsuit
SAN DIEGO, June 09, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP announces that purchasers or acquirers of Red Cat Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: RCAT) securities between March 18, 2022 and January 15, 2025, inclusive (the 'Class Period'), have until Tuesday, July 22, 2025 to seek appointment as lead plaintiff of the Red Cat class action lawsuit. Captioned Olsen v. Red Cat Holdings, Inc., No. 25-cv-05427 (D.N.J.), the Red Cat class action lawsuit charges Red Cat and certain of Red Cat's top current and former executives with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. If you suffered substantial losses and wish to serve as lead plaintiff of the Red Cat class action lawsuit, please provide your information here: You can also contact attorneys J.C. Sanchez or Jennifer N. Caringal of Robbins Geller by calling 800/449-4900 or via e-mail at [email protected]. CASE ALLEGATIONS: Red Cat, together with its subsidiaries, provides products and solutions to drone industry. Red Cat's products include, among others, the 'Teal 2' drone, a small, unmanned aircraft system designed to purportedly 'Dominate the Night' during nighttime military operations. The Red Cat class action lawsuit alleges that defendants throughout the Class Period made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Red Cat's Salt Lake City facility's production capacity, and defendants' progress in developing the same, was overstated; and (ii) the overall value of Red Cat's Short Range Reconnaissance Program of Record Tranche 2 contract (the 'SRR Contract') was overstated. The Red Cat class action lawsuit further alleges that on July 27, 2023, Red Cat revealed that its Salt Lake City facility could only currently produce 100 drones per month, the facility was still being built, refined, and expanded, and that construction of the facility was only 'substantially completed' and potentially could reach a production capacity of 1,000 drones per month over the next 2 to 3 years, but only with additional capital investments and manufacturing efficiencies realized. On this news, the price of Red Cat stock fell nearly 9%, according to the complaint. Then, on September 23, 2024, the Red Cat class action lawsuit further alleges that Red Cat announced its financial results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2025, reporting losses per share of $0.17, missing consensus estimates by $0.09, and revenue of $2.8 million, missing consensus estimates by $1.07 million. According to the complaint, Red Cat further disclosed that Red Cat had spent 'the past four months . . . retooling [the Salt Lake City facility] and preparing for high volume production,' while admitting that a 'pause in manufacturing of Teal 2 and building Army prototypes impacted Teal 2 sales' because, among other things, Red Cat 'couldn't produce and sell Teal 2 units while retooling [its] factory.' The Red Cat class action lawsuit alleges that on this news, the price of Red Cat stock fell more than 25%. Finally, the Red Cat class action lawsuit further alleges that on January 16, 2025, Kerrisdale Capital published a report alleging that '[t]he SRR contract that Red Cat won in November and preemptively announced without the Army's permission is much smaller and less favorable than management as intimated,' and that '[i]t's highly implausible that a mass-production facility for manufacturing drones has been built at any point in the last two years for less than $1 million.' On this news, the price of Red Cat stock fell more than 21% over two trading sessions, according to the complaint. THE LEAD PLAINTIFF PROCESS: The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 permits any investor who purchased or acquired Red Cat securities during the Class Period to seek appointment as lead plaintiff in the Red Cat class action lawsuit. A lead plaintiff is generally the movant with the greatest financial interest in the relief sought by the putative class who is also typical and adequate of the putative class. A lead plaintiff acts on behalf of all other class members in directing the Red Cat class action lawsuit. The lead plaintiff can select a law firm of its choice to litigate the Red Cat class action lawsuit. An investor's ability to share in any potential future recovery is not dependent upon serving as lead plaintiff of the Red Cat class action lawsuit. ABOUT ROBBINS GELLER: Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP is one of the world's leading law firms representing investors in securities fraud and shareholder litigation. Our Firm has been ranked #1 in the ISS Securities Class Action Services rankings for four out of the last five years for securing the most monetary relief for investors. In 2024, we recovered over $2.5 billion for investors in securities-related class action cases – more than the next five law firms combined, according to ISS. With 200 lawyers in 10 offices, Robbins Geller is one of the largest plaintiffs' firms in the world, and the Firm's attorneys have obtained many of the largest securities class action recoveries in history, including the largest ever – $7.2 billion – in In re Enron Corp. Sec. Litig. Please visit the following page for more information: Past results do not guarantee future outcomes. Services may be performed by attorneys in any of our offices. Contact: Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP J.C. Sanchez, Jennifer N. Caringal 655 W. Broadway, Suite 1900, San Diego, CA 92101 800-449-4900 [email protected]
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Yahoo
House budget proposal cuts SNAP, Medicaid in major rollback
TYLER, Texas (KETK) — The House has passed a budget proposal within the 'Big Beautiful Bill' that would cut the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Medicaid. This results in the largest rollback of food assistance in our nation's history, according to 'Feeding Texas'. Nacogdoches holds second annual Duck Derby fundraiser for county donations 'This represents a 30 percent cut to our nation's most important and effective anti-hunger program,' Vice President of Feeding Texas Jamie Olsen said. SNAP currently feeds 3 million Texans and cutting funding for this program would result in $300 billion lost in aid. 'Texas would be required to pay 1.8 billion dollars a year starting in 2028,' Olsen said. The estimated total of Texans at risk of losing all SNAP benefits is 392,000 and 806,000 are at risk of losing partial benefits. Additionally, the bill could leave one million Texans without health insurance, specifically putting elderly and pregnant women in rural areas at risk. 'We're urging Congress to ensure no one is forced to choose between food and other basic needs,' the East Texas Food Bank said. The Senate is projected to vote on the budget as early as June 16. Both chambers must conference and re-vote on a final bill before the August debt limit. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Yahoo
Legends ASM and Boldyn Networks bring the ultimate entertainment experience to fans
Fans headed to Legends ASM venues in the UK can now enjoy fast and seamless connectivity at the first direct bank arena in Leeds Boldyn has laid the groundwork for all UK mobile operators to provide uninterrupted, high-speed 5G coverage at the venue. O2 customers are set to be first to benefit LONDON, June 4, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- What happens when passionate fans can access state-of-the-art mobile connectivity at a large venue? The answer is revolutionising! Fans get a leading entertaining experience, from quickly accessing the arena and ordering food and drinks from their phones, to uploading HD videos four times faster, easily finding friends at the event, and getting home smoothly and safely. Thanks to the partnership between Legends ASM and Boldyn Networks the first direct bank arena in Leeds is being equipped with advanced 5G infrastructure that all mobile network operators can access and enable their subscribers to enjoy the benefits. An opportunity that hasn't been missed by O2 – the first network to sign up their customers to the power of "wow" at the music arena. Martin McInulty, General Manager at first direct bank arena said: "Boldyn's state-of-the-art network is transforming the way visitors experience events at our arenas. In the UK, fans in Leeds are the first to benefit by having the ability to capture 'wow' moments in ultra-HD and sharing them with friends and family in real-time. We look forward to more operators coming on board and unlocking these amazing experiences for their customers when visiting our venues. The new seamless, robust 5G connectivity also enables best-in-class venue management. We're excited with how connectivity can optimise everyone's journey at our venues and will continue leveraging Boldyn's infrastructure to unlock the power of the 'future wow'." Paul Osborne, Chief Commercial Officer, UK and Ireland at Boldyn Networks, said: "We are incredibly proud to provide high-speed 5G mobile connectivity to Legends ASM's passionate fans. We want to enhance the experience for everyone, from visitors to staff, by providing a platform for a range of new digital services. Our deployments also demonstrate the power of shared infrastructure, capable of delivering 5G services to customers of all mobile network providers. We are delighted to support O2 as they lead the way in transforming customer experiences through the power of 5G." Dr Robert Joyce, Director of Mobile Access Engineering, at O2 said: "Given our long-history of giving our customers access to the best live entertainment, it's only natural that they will be the first to benefit from our next-generation 5G network at venues across the country. We are committed to improving the connected experience for our customers no matter where they are, including in busy locations such as stations, stadiums and arenas. From finding friends to sharing special moments on social media, everybody knows that connectivity is vital when you're at a gig so we're ensuring more concertgoers than ever can experience seamless connectivity on O2." Full press release here. View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Boldyn Networks Melden Sie sich an, um Ihr Portfolio aufzurufen.