Whoever heard of a solar company that not only owns its own flock of sheep but also employs a breeding expert and invests in a lambing barn?
You have now! As part of our commitment to grow our company-owned flock of sheep and demonstrate excellent land stewardship, in 2021, Silicon Ranch hired Jim Malooley, a shepherd with extensive breeding experience focused on the challenges of raising sheep in the demanding subtropical southeastern climate, to join our Regenerative Energy® team. We simultaneously acquired our own flock of sheep that moved onto our Snipesville Ranch in January 2022, both moves a solar industry first. We took these steps initially to allow us to grow a flock that expands our capacity to implement regenerative grazing to restore land health across more of our solar farm acres.
Lessons learned early on lead to cutting edge genetics program, participation in the National Sheep Improvement Program, and lambing barn investment
Jim Malooley, lead of our genetic improvement program, remembers unexpected challenges that arose during his first summer managing the company-owned flock at Snipesville Ranch and lessons learned as a result.
“It was operationally challenging, and the sheep required more nutritional support than expected to maintain a high level of productivity and for our shepherds to achieve our high standards of animal welfare.”
Jim Malooley, Silicon Ranch Senior Operations Manager, Regenerative Energy and Land Management
As a result of this and other lessons learned that summer, we committed to selecting and breeding our own sheep to adapt parasite resistant breeds for grazing in the Southeast. This allows us to both build flock capacity that thrives in the challenging ecosystems of the Southeast and restore the health of more of our solar farmland. We also committed to participating in the National Sheep Improvement Program (NSIP), which provides predictable, economically important genetic evaluation information to the U.S. sheep industry. We track individual animal performance and genotype of each lamb within our genetic improvement flock. Entering this data into the NSIP database contributes to improving the genetics and production of both the Georgia flock and the national flock by strengthening the science-based, industry-tested measurements of heritable traits in every participating flock in the country.
Our genetic improvement program is developing from a foundation laid by decades of work by other passionate sheep and lamb industry participants (including the USDA, universities, and producers). Silicon Ranch’s resources are now driving growth and scale in the Georgia sheep industry, with our flock representing approximately 11% of the total Georgia flock (according to most recent available USDA agricultural census data). In just two years, the company’s sheep count has increased from 1,000 head to 3,000+. Approximately 900 of these sheep make up our genetic improvement flock, which resides at our company-owned and operated Houston Solar Farm.
Our lambing barn investment will improve animal welfare and facilitate data collection and genetic progress
We have invested in a 26,000 square foot lambing barn at Houston Solar Ranch, designed and constructed to improve animal welfare for the project’s resident flock of sheep, improve the genetics and production of both the Georgia flock and the national flock, and help rebuild the U.S. sheep industry. The genetic improvement flock will spend a small portion of each year in the barn: approximately one day monthly for welfare checks and performance measurements that are linked to the genetic profile of each sheep, and approximately thirty-five days each for the lambing season. The sheep in this flock will spend the remainder of the year in the pastoral environment they are being bred to thrive in. This significant investment is the result of yet another lesson learned, after working through two lambing seasons at Snipesville Ranch without a covered handling area to access. Both sheep and shepherd welfare improve when they can take refuge from the elements when needed.
Growth of Silicon Ranch-Owned Sheep Flock
With the lambing barn in place and our dedicated and knowledgeable staff, we are committed to significant growth of our flocks across Georgia in the next decade. This growth is critical to our ability to implement regenerative grazing to restore land health across more of our solar farmland, in alignment with our commitment to demonstrating excellent land stewardship. Our investment in the expertise and infrastructure to expand our flock to restore more solar farmland also means additional important benefits for the communities of which we are a part. These benefits include new career opportunities for rural young people, who we employ and train in regenerative land management, improved genetics for the Georgia sheep flock, and increased revenues and employment for local businesses.
Through our Regenerative Energy® program, we are grateful to be a meaningful part of a growing community that is improving soil health, increasing biodiversity, keeping water cleaner, and pulling carbon from the atmosphere—all while making local economies more resilient. Watch to learn more about Houston Solar Farm and Silicon Ranch’s investments in the future of agriculture
Silicon Ranch Regenerative Energy® team hosting Georgia Young Farmers Association members at Houston Solar Farm to educate them on the benefits and career opportunities resulting from marrying solar energy production with regenerative agriculture and land management.