By Leah Douglas and Nichola Groom
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Tuesday it will heighten scrutiny of some solar and wind projects but stopped short of ending all agency support for clean energy projects on U.S. farms, according to a press release.
The release came a day after Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced on X that her agency would no longer fund wind and solar on productive farmland.
Rather, the agency said it will move away from funding larger renewable energy facilities, the Tuesday release said.
Wind and solar projects will not be eligible for the agency’s Rural Development Business and Industry Guaranteed Loan Program, the USDA said, and ground-mounted solar systems over 50 kilowatts and those that cannot document historical energy usage will not qualify for the Rural Energy for America Program Guaranteed Loan Program, according to the release.
“USDA will ensure that American farmers, ranchers and producers utilizing wind and solar energy sources will install units that are right-sized for their facilities,” the release said.
The agency will also not allow the use of solar panels “manufactured by foreign adversaries” in USDA-funded projects, the release said.
The USDA did not immediately respond to questions about whether smaller-scale projects are still eligible for agency support.
Thomas Clark, director of marketing and communications for solar installation company Northstone Solar in Whitefish, Montana, said potential clients in his region had already been impacted by the USDA’s pullback in project funding.
“If you are trying to do a ground mount system on farmland, which a couple years ago would not have been an issue, now they don’t want that to happen,” Clark said. “And that just seems like you’re sticking it to farmers that are trying to find ways to diversify their revenue and be able to stay in business.”
Rollins said in the release that prime farmland has been displaced by solar farms and the new investment guardrails are meant to keep farmland affordable.
Yet data from the USDA shows that a very small amount of rural land is used for solar and wind projects and that most continues in agricultural production even after the projects are installed.
(Reporting by Leah Douglas in Washington; Editing by Mark Porter)
