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Animal grazing to control understory herbage growth in photovoltaics sites presents a substantial opportunity for animal and energy production within the same site. However, there is a paucity of information on the effect of field preparation method within solar arrays on the establishment and productivity of pastures. Thus, the current study investigated the effects of field preparation and shade within solar arrays on plant germination and subsequent herbage yield in an agrivoltaic system. The treatments were (i) tillage and plastic cover (TP), (ii) plastic cover only (P), and (iii) herbicide application prior to sowing (H). A diverse pasture mixture, comprised of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.), orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata L.), white clover (Trifolium repens L.), birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus L.), chicory (Cichorium intybus L.), and plantain (Plantago lanceolata L.) was direct drilled within solar arrays in spring 2020. The experiment layout was a completely randomized plot design with three replicates. The pastures were harvested in fully shaded, partially shaded and non-shaded zones within solar arrays in each plot in July and October 2020. The average across the treatments herbage dry matter (DM) yield was 1127 kg DM ha−1 and 1305 kg DM ha−1 in July and October 2020, respectively. While the effect of establishment method was significant with plastic cover and tillage application resulting in the highest DM yield of 1547 kg DM ha−1, the herbage yield in three shade zones within the solar arrays did not differ in July 2020. The herbicide application alone had the lowest DM yield at the establishment stage in summer. The effect of establishment method on forage DM yield was not significant in October 2020. However, a treatment×shade zone interaction was detected as the non-shaded, middle zone in herbicide only treatment had substantially lower DM yield than other two shade zones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grasslands and croplands located in temperate agro-ecologies are ranked to be the best places to install solar panels for maximum energy production. Therefore, agrivoltaic systems (agricultural production under solar panels) are designed to mutually benefit solar energy and agricultural production in the same location for dual-use of land. However, both livestock farmers and energy companies require information for the application of efficient livestock management practices under solar panels. Therefore, this study was conducted to compare lamb growth and pasture production under solar panels and in open pastures in Corvallis, Oregon in spring 2019 and 2020. Averaged across the grazing periods, weaned Polypay lambs grew at 120 and 119 g/head/d under solar panels and open pastures, respectively in spring 2019 (P=0.90). Although a higher stocking density (36.6 lambs/ha) at the pastures under solar panels was maintained than open pastures (30 lambs/ha) in the late spring period, the liveweight production between grazing under solar panels (1.5 kg ha/d) and open pastures (1.3 kg ha/d) were comparable (P=0.67). Similarly, lambs liveweight gains and liveweight productions were comparable in both pasture types (all P>0.05). The daily water consumption of the lambs in spring 2019 were similar during early spring, but lambs in open pastures consumed 0.72 l/head/d more water than those grazed under solar panels in the late spring period (P<0.01). However, no difference was observed in water intake of the lambs in spring 2020 (P=0.42) The preliminary results from our grazing study indicated that grazing under solar panels can maintain higher carrying capacity of pasture toward summer, and land productivity could be increased up to 200% through combining sheep grazing and solar energy production on the same land. More importantly, solar panels may provide a more animal welfare friendly environment for the grazing livestock as they provide shelter from sun and wind. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]