A recent study published in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems details the effects of combining solar panels and lamb grazing on overall land productivity. New research carried out by Oregon State University scientists in 2019 and 2020 is believed to be the first study of its kind. The team compared the differences between lamb growth in traditional open pastures, with that of pastures that also contained solar panels.
The results showed that lamb grazing in pastures with solar panels increased land productivity. During the study, the researchers found there was less overall forage in the pasture with solar panels, however it was of higher quality. Lambs raised in both systems gained almost the same amount of weight throughout the study. Because of that, the energy produced by the solar panels created a significant increase in land productivity compared to the traditional open pasture.
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