> The best solution is still to put solar panels and farmland in different places where each can be optimized without concern for the other.

There's significant evidence "add solar panels" is an optimization to at least some kinds of farmland.

> farmers can't bring in tractors and cut hay when the ruminants are gone for a season

That season is typically "winter", and you wind up without much hay to cut at that point.

▲

Jbird2k 4 hours ago | parent | next [-]

You do realize that pole mounts exist that are tall enough to mow around. Yes it’s expensive ish but it definitely is a workable solution.

▲

boringg 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

True but you also need to make those pretty robust and probably put deeper into the ground because the shear load increases significantly. That then eats into the actually money saved for putting the whole investment together.

As much as I want solar everywhere - it far from a sure thing for making/saving money.

	▲	chasd00 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		> True but you also need to make those pretty robust they also have to be able to get "bumped" by a brush hog, plow, and whatever else without collapsing and taking down a bunch of panels.

▲

dzhiurgis 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Mowing bots are likely a cheaper solution. But kinda silly when sheep exist.

▲

declan_roberts 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Believe it or not cattle is a low margin business and farmers can't buy hay (from a non-PV field) and sell meat at a profit. Ranchers cut hay to get their pastured cattle through the winter. They can't have portions of their field unreachable by a tractor. Reasons like this are why this type of tech will always be popular on HN but they just can't figure out why farmers don't want it.

▲

ceejayoz 4 hours ago | parent | next [-]

> Ranchers cut hay to get their pastured cattle through the winter. They can't have portions of their field unreachable by a tractor.

No one's banning hay fields. You can do both.

https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/food-and-farms/wheres-t...

"The solar canopy also protects the grasses, keeping them green and dewy, even as nearby fields blanch and crisp in the sunlight. Shallanberger rotates the herd every few days, a key tenet of regenerative farming philosophy, so they munch on fresh grass while the rest of the field grows back. They move through all 15 paddocks in about 45 days; if the site relied on mechanical mowers, they’d trim every 45 days, too."

"Vegetation management is one of the most significant costs for solar plant maintenance in the Southeast, Shallenberger said. In the first six months, the cattle took care of about 75% of the mowing — he had to bring in conventional equipment for some woody weeds that the cattle don’t care for. Once the pasture is more established, the herd could handle up to 95% of the site’s mowing needs."

> Reasons like this are why this type of tech will always be popular on HN but they just can't figure out why farmers don't want it.

Farmers come in different sizes, shapes, locations.

The largest https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cattle_station is several times the size of the state of Rhode Island, and chances are there're some spots where a bit of shade is welcome. I can also assure you no one's mowing/haying that size a property.

	▲	rossjudson 3 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		I bet the cows appreciate the shade!
	▲	ErroneousBosh an hour ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		> They move through all 15 paddocks in about 45 days; if the site relied on mechanical mowers, they’d trim every 45 days, too." What do you think "trim" is here, and why do you think anyone would do it? How much do you think a hay field would grow in six weeks?

▲

asdff 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Why should the tractor be the old tractor when we are talking about a futuristic PV field? There is already a market for these autonomous tractors and seems they are all about half the height of a traditional tractor, basically the same vehicle with the cab cut off. Then for specifically mowers they can get pretty slender. I imagine a purpose built mower/hay harvester could be very slim. Huge advantage for the farmer if these are electric as well; power would be "free" from pv field and you only need a single technician or mechanic perhaps to maintain this operation.

▲

idiotsecant 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

HN has a particularly severe case of 'I can write software, so I know everything' disease. It turns out all the farmers, electricians, engineers, bricklayers, bakers, policy experts, and so so much more should have just come on here a few times a week and they'd be so much smarter.

	▲	defrost 32 minutes ago \| parent \| next [-]
		I'm going to guess that all you can do yourself is "code" and you've never actually farmed, wired a house or processing plant, can't gas fit pipes, never studied civil engineering, can't pave a patio or build a brick BBQ, and have never submitted policy papers to local government. If that's the case, then I suggest you work on that and broaden your life experiences.
	▲	ceejayoz 3 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		I've seen farmers on here, and it's a trivially verifiable fact that some farmers are using agrivoltaic approaches. Nor are farmers immune to the "vote against your own interests" political bullshit that often comes up around renewables. Look at how many voted for the guy who started a trade war as a thank you. (Plenty of bakers here, by the way. I used a literal ton of flour during COVID keeping the neighborhood supplied with sourdough. And I give hay to horses ~5x a week; I've seen what animals can do to a grassy field.)