USDA ends programs for solar, wind projects on farms

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By Leah Douglas and Nichola Groom

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Department of Agriculture will no longer support solar and wind projects on productive farmland, said Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins in a post on X on Monday.

The move is the latest in a series of actions by the administration of President Donald Trump to stall development of wind and solar energy, which Trump says are unreliable, expensive, and dependent on Chinese supply chains. 

“Millions of acres of prime farmland is left unusable so Green New Deal subsidized solar panels can be built. This destruction of our farms and prime soil is taking away the futures of the next generation of farmers and the future of our country,” Rollins said on X. 

The USDA has provided over $2 billion for renewable energy projects, like solar and wind, through its Rural Energy for America Program, according to the agency website. The agency has also supported clean energy projects for rural electric cooperatives. 

The USDA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

About 424,000 acres (1,715 square kilometers) of rural land were affected by wind turbines and solar farms in 2020, less than 0.05% of the nearly 900 million acres used for farmland, according to a 2024 USDA study. Most of that land stayed in agricultural production after the development of the solar or wind projects, the study found. 

The administration of former President Joe Biden supported solar and wind projects in rural areas and on farms as part of its effort to cut climate-harming emissions and make clean energy more affordable. 

(Reporting by Leah Douglas in Washington and Nichola Groom in Los Angeles, CA; Editing by Leslie Adler, Chizu Nomiyama and Marguerita Choy)