Summary
The 50 MWac Turkey Creek Solar Ranch in Garrard County, Kentucky, is a solar+agriculture project that generates enough clean, reliable, affordable energy to power 8,000 Kentucky homes, improves the local grid, and provides neighboring sheep farmer Daniel Bell with access to 750 acres of farmland to graze his sheep. This allows Daniel to grow his flock, employ his sons, and increase his revenue, while producing healthier soil, happier animals, and locally raised grass-fed meat. The project contributes significantly to energy reliability, energy independence, and stable electricity prices in Garrard County. At the end of its useful life, the project will be repowered or decommissioned. If decommissioned, after decades of being managed regeneratively, the land will be among the most fertile in the state.
Turkey Creek Solar Ranch, built, owned, and operated by Silicon Ranch, supports Amazon’s net zero carbon emission goals. Read on to learn more about the Turkey Creek Solar Farm and its remarkable impact on small-scale, multigenerational family farming in Garrard County.
Hazelbrook Farm and Turkey Creek Solar Ranch
Daniel Bell is a sheep rancher in Garrard County and the owner of Hazelbrook Farm, which neighbors Turkey Creek Solar Ranch. Like many small-scale independent farmers across the United States, Daniel long harbored an ambition to grow his business so that he could provide employment on the family farm for his sons and make Hazelbrook Farm a traditional American intergenerational enterprise. An all-too-common obstacle for independent farmers who do not enjoy the good fortune of inheriting vast tracts of farmland, , however, stood in the way of this ambition: lack of capital and land constraints. That all changed with the arrival of Turkey Creek Solar Ranch in Garrard County.
At Turkey Creek, Silicon Ranch’s commitment to small scale regenerative agricultural practices dovetailed perfectly with the Bell family’s dreams and professional expertise. We partnered with the Bell family to have them graze their flock on our land, providing Daniel with a transformational opportunity — access to the land he needed to grow his operation and a contract for grazing services that ensures a new and regular revenue stream. The partnership also provides Silicon Ranch with the soil-friendly land management that our Regenerative Energy[r-ball] platform is dedicated to. Daniel employs his flock of sheep to restore soil health and biodiversity as they graze the vegetation under and around the solar panels. The panels in return provide the sheep, which are raised on an all-grass diet, with healthier forage as well as shade and protection from the elements – rain, hail, ice, and more.
Silicon Ranch’s partnership with Daniel has allowed him to more than triple the size of both his flock and his revenue and create three jobs on the family farm: he employs both of his sons and, during spring and summer, an additional part-time worker.
Silicon Ranch investments in its communities, partners, animals, and land help make rural communities stronger, healthier, and more resilient.
Read more about the Bell family’s partnership with Silicon Ranch.
Facts & Figures
50 MWac
Locally Produced Renewable Energy Capacity
8,000
Kentucky Homes that Turkey Creek Solar Ranch can Power Annually
750
Acres of Land Regeneratively Grazed to Restore Soil Health
$70,000,000+
Capital Investment for Economic Development
$7,000,000
New Tax Revenues over 40 Years to Fund Local Priorities
200+
Jobs Created
Read About Turkey Creek Solar Ranch
Press Coverage
- Amazon News: How Amazon’s solar and wind projects are supporting local communities across the Southeastern U.S.
- NPR WVXU: Amazon and Duke Energy partner on solar project at CVG
- The Lane Report: Amazon solar projects at CVG, Garrard County providing renewable energy
- Inside Climate News: Can Cows and Solar Power Coexist? We’re About to Find Out