AgriSolar Podcasts Episode 2: Keeping Family Farms in Family Hands with AgriSolar in Massachusetts
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About Voices from the Field
From cover crops to regenerative grazing and organic production to marketing, ATTRA - Voices from the Field is your sustainable agriculture podcast. Voices from the Field is produced by NCAT. Since 1976, NCAT has provided trusted information, individualized technical assistance, and in-depth resources to support sustainable agriculture and accessible energy solutions.
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This episode is a conversation between Stacie Peterson, NCAT’s Energy Program Director and Manager of the AgriSolar Clearinghouse, and Nate Tassinari, the owner of Million Little Sunbeams, a third-generation hay farm in Monson, Massachusetts.
It is the second in a series of AgriSolar Clearinghouse podcasts that are being featured on ATTRA’S Voices from the Field podcast.
Nate’s hay operation is a 1-acre farm co-located with a solar array that generates 250 kilowatts of power. It is centrally located among a network of family farms and has solar panels that are elevated 10 feet above the ground, both to accommodate haying equipment and to satisfy Massachusetts regulations for incentives.
In the conversation, Nate describes the financial aspects of owning a solar array, how to harvest the sun during the winter, the interconnection of family farmlands, and the role solar can play in farm ownership.
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This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) under the Solar Energy Technologies Office Award Number DE-EE000937. Legal Disclaimer: The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Department of Energy or the United States Government.
Other Resources:
Case Study: Million Little Sunbeams
UMass Clean Energy Extension Plays Part in First SMART-Approved Dual-Use Solar Project
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