Thomas C. Zambito and Edward Harris, New York State Team
Wed, January 11, 2023
The cows have all been milked and fed.
Ben Simons’ Holsteins are lounging in a field next to his home on Starr Hill in Remsen, the morning fog having given way to a warming early afternoon sun.
“Right now, they’re fat and happy,” Simons says, taking in the scene.
Ben Simons stands outside of his home and farm on Starr Hill in Remsen, NY. He was approached by a land agent interested in leasing acres of Simons’ land to build an array of solar panels to convert the sun’s energy into electricity and deliver it to the state’s electrical grid.
Dairy cows have provided Simons a steady income through the years, ever since he and his wife Robin arrived in central New York in the 1980s, joining an exodus of farming families from New Hampshire in search of a place where they could work the land and raise a family.
They sell milk to yogurt maker Chobani in nearby Chenango County and Hood dairy products in Massachusetts.
But it’s physical work, up with the sun milking cows, planting corn and soybeans and, when the growing season is over, chopping firewood for sale in nearby towns. Simons is 61.
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A few years ago, while he was up on a tractor harvesting hay, Simons got an unexpected visit from a man who chased him down in the field with an offer.
He was a land agent for a developer checking his interest in leasing acres of Simons’ land to build an array of solar panels to convert the sun’s energy into electricity and deliver it to the state’s electrical grid.
He mentioned the transmission lines that border the fields along the Starr Hill property. Those lines would carry energy down to a substation and onto the grid, helping the state achieve its goal of 70% reliance on renewables by 2030.
Ben Simons stands out on the back porch of his home with his farmland in the background atop of Starr Hill in Remsen, NY. He was approached by a land agent interested in leasing acres of Simons’ land to build an array of solar panels to convert the sun’s energy into electricity and deliver it to the state’s electrical grid.More
He tossed around a few numbers — Simons recalls about $1,000 an acre annually — and promised Simons he’d receive his first down payment after the agreement was signed.
And then he asked Simons, “Are you going to keep farming?”
It’s a question upstate farmers have been asking themselves a lot in recent years. Facing an uncertain financial outlook and a next generation unwilling to inherit the family farm, leasing land to a solar developer is a way out.
This is the story of two farmers. One who took the offer, another who turned it down.
Ben Simons stands out on the back porch of his home with his farmland in the background atop of Starr Hill in Remsen, NY. He was approached by a land agent interested in leasing acres of Simons’ land to build an array of solar panels to convert the sun’s energy into electricity and deliver it to the state’s electrical grid.More
An offer hard to refuse
Minimum wage increases, lower overtime thresholds for workers and the cost of doing business in New York — not to mention changing weather patterns — have made the farmer’s life a daily grind that has some looking for the exit. Dairy farmers like Simons have had to contend with plunging milk prices.
Enter renewable energy developers drawn to New York by financial incentives the state has put in place to achieve its ambitious slate of climate goals. They’ve been fanning out across upstate New York in recent years, searching for farmers willing to turn over their land for, in many cases, thousands of dollars an acre annually.
The state’s goal of 60 gigawatts of solar-powered energy by 2050 translates to roughly 180 million panels. That includes panels on commercial and residential properties as well as utility-scale arrays like the one envisioned for Simons’ farm.
A view of the transmission lines that border the fields along Ben Simons' Starr Hill property in Remsen, NY.
But just two small utility-scale solar farms currently deliver energy to the grid. There are more than 70 in the pipeline awaiting state approval. Most of those are planned for upstate towns where land is cheap and plentiful, with a goal of sending it downstate to offset the region’s heavy reliance on fossil fuels.
“Farmers, I talk to them every day, they are equally frustrated and concerned about their well-being,” said Jeff Williams, the policy director for the New York Farm Bureau. “I know a couple of farmers are making that calculation now because they just can't be competitive.”
And so, the question posed to Simons a few years ago — “Are you going to keep farming?" — takes on greater urgency.
“It gets your attention,” Simons said. “It really does.”
'Preserving our farmland'
Some 16 miles southeast of Simons’ farm, Richard Marko runs a 350-acre cattle farm called Hillside Meadows in Newport, north of Utica. It produces enough beef to feed about 30 families.
A few months ago, Marko was approached by a Canadian renewable developer named Boralex who wanted to put a solar farm on a portion of his 350–acre property on North Gage Road.
The Newport Solar Project, as it’s called, would saddle the Herkimer and Oneida county lines, covering some 900 acres in Deerfield and Newport.
Boralex approached Marko because they were looking for land flat enough to lay solar panels and fields close enough to the electrical grid. The Deerfield and Newport properties checked all the boxes, Boralex spokesman Darren Suarez said.
Fields of solar panel arrays would be mixed in with viable farmland that would remain in use during the 25-year life of the project, Suarez said.
“It’s integrated more into the community," he said.
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Towns, counties and local school districts would reap an estimated $8 million in revenue. The 130-megawatt array would produce enough energy to power roughly 37,000 homes, with some of the energy remaining nearby and the rest sent out on the grid.
Marko and his wife Patty were raised on dairy farms and bought the Hillside Meadows property a decade ago. They have four adult children between the ages of 30 and 43 and hope one day to leave it to their son, who is currently on active duty in the Marines.
After the lease term expires, the land involved in the solar project would be returned to farming. That sold Marko.
“It’s not ruining our farmland," he said. "It’s preserving our farmland."
Balancing NY renewable energy goals with 'finite resources'
State Sen. Michelle Hinchey, a Democrat, chairs the agriculture committee and represents a district with more than 1,000 farms.
In recent years, the district, which includes Greene and Montgomery counties, has been flooded with proposals for largescale solar developments and Hinchey fears the state's renewable buildout risks creating "a secondary crisis" by removing prime soil from food production.
“Don’t get me wrong, we need renewable energy, we needed it 50 years ago,” Hinchey said. “But we cannot do it at the detriment and at the expense of our finite resources, especially our finite agricultural resources.”
A view of Ben Simon's farm atop of Starr Hill in Remsen, NY. He was approached by a land agent interested in leasing acres of Simons’ land to build an array of solar panels to convert the sun’s energy into electricity and deliver it to the state’s electrical grid.
Farmland, she said, should be the last resort.A bill Hinchey sponsored that would discourage renewable developers from using prime farmland passed both houses of the state legislature this year. But in late November it was vetoed by Gov. Kathy Hochul, who said it would hinder the New York State Energy and Redevelopment Authority’s agrivoltaic program — a way to use land simultaneously for renewable energy and farming.
Hinchey plans to introduce the measure again in 2023.
Ben Simons talks with his son Christopher who is sitting inside of a John Deere atop of Starr Hill in Remsen, NY. He was approached by a land agent interested in leasing acres of Simons’ land to build an array of solar panels to convert the sun’s energy into electricity and deliver it to the state’s electrical grid.
In an effort to steer developers away from viable farmland, the state recently began a program requiring solar developers to make an “agricultural mitigation payment” if their plan includes building on prime agricultural soil. A Hinchey-sponsored bill Hochul signed this month requires that the money go into a farmland protection fund.
Under the current setup, developers search out willing landowners, then try to win state approval. It’s led to showdowns pitting the state against towns who fear sweeping views of green pastures will be marred by fields of solar panels or wind turbines.
State Sen. Joseph Griffo, a Republican whose district includes the upstate counties of Oneida, Lewis and St. Lawrence, said the current system needs to change.
Ben Simons stands out on the back porch of his home with his farmland in the background atop of Starr Hill in Remsen, NY. He was approached by a land agent interested in leasing acres of Simons’ land to build an array of solar panels to convert the sun’s energy into electricity and deliver it to the state’s electrical grid.More
“They (developers) go in and say, ‘Hey, we'll take on most of your problem land and we'll leave you a little bit.’ And the farmers are jumping at it. But the communities are screaming, saying, ‘Well, wait a minute, you're gonna put all these things here.”
Several upstate towns have joined in a lawsuit challenging the state’s decision to create the Office of Renewable Energy Siting to streamline the approval process for renewable projects. Griffo sponsored a bill that would have eliminated ORES.
“I think these communities have legitimate questions and legitimate concerns and they should not only be dealt with fairly but they need to be addressed,” said Griffo. “Stop the power grab. It’s basically, in my opinion, a sham process.”
Paying for those idyllic views
Marko's taking Boralex up on their offer. He is currently working with the company on acreage amounts.
“The big thing that sold me," Marko said, "is when the project expires, it goes right back to farmland."
The project will need to clear a number of significant hurdles.
Boralex expects to apply for a state permit early next year with hopes of beginning construction at the end of 2024 and up and run by the end of the following year.
Marko’s agreement with Boralex has not been finalized and the payout will depend largely on how many acres of his property the company uses.
But the deal will help him enough financially that he can continue operations on the farm.
A view of Ben Simons' farmland atop of Starr Hill in Remsen, NY. He was approached by a land agent interested in leasing acres of Simons’ land to build an array of solar panels to convert the sun’s energy into electricity and deliver it to the state’s electrical grid.
Simons told the agent who chased him down in the field he wasn’t interested.
But another developer came around last year, asking about a property he owns in Westernville, some six miles to the west of Starr Hill.
He wanted to build on 30 acres.
The proposal promised an initial payment of $10,000 the first year, with payments of $1,000 an acre annually. Over 25 years, the payout would exceed $1.6 million.
Ben Simons and his son Christopher are pictured in front of their farm's welcome sign atop of Starr Hill in Remsen, NY. Ben was approached by a land agent interested in leasing acres of Simons’ land to build an array of solar panels to convert the sun’s energy into electricity and deliver it to the state’s electrical grid.
“Business-wise it is a stupid decision,” Simons said. “I’m not kidding you. It is. But we’re farmers. And I’m getting ready to retire. I’m not going anywhere but I’m slowing down.”
His son, Christopher, is 33 and has plans to take over the farm some day. He has little interest in the dairy business but wants to grow crops and work the land.
“We kicked it around,” Chris Simon said. “We considered it. But when you’re talking about the best prime farmland we have, then it’s a no. If you’re taking the marginal land, the small-odd shaped fields, the ones that are less productive, that’s a different story.”
Ben Simons understands the choices made by Marko and other farmers and doesn’t begrudge their decision a bit.
In the end, he was not convinced the land could be tilled again after solar panels were dug into the ground.
But when he stops to think about the current cycle of contention — developers making deals with farmers, communities fighting developers — he thinks perhaps the farmer has been forgotten in the debate.
This article originally appeared on New York State Team: NY solar buildout presents upstate farmers with tempting offers
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