New Solar Soil Health Guide and Partnerships Highlight Agrivoltaics Summit
Farmer innovation celebrated at 3rd annual conference
(Washington, D.C.) Building upon interest in agriculturally compatible approaches to solar energy development across the country, American Farmland Trust released a new solar soil health guide and announced new cross-sector partnerships to advance its Smart Solar SM work at the 2025 Solar Farm Summit in Chicago. The 3rd annual Summit represents America’s leading farmer-first solar forum and the largest agrivoltaics conference in North America.
“We are proud to once again co-sponsor this year’s Solar Farm Summit, the premier national conference on agrivoltaics,” said AFT Senior Fellow Jenny Lester-Moffitt. “AFT defines agrivoltaics as the intentional combination of solar energy generation and agricultural products on the same piece of land, a strategic approach to increasing the viability of America’s farms and ranches, while producing food and renewable energy. AFT’s direct support for agrivoltaics will help build on our national Smart Solar program, advancing new resources, tools and projects for farmers and farming communities for years to come.”
The new AFT-produced Solar Soil Health Guide presents key considerations and practices to safeguard soil health during solar development, from site assessment through design and construction into operations and maintenance. The guide is tailored to agrivoltaic applications, including grazing and crop production. However, the soil health principles articulated in the guide can be applied to any ground-mounted solar project to protect the future of farmland.
“This guide offers practical recommendations not only for landowners but also for solar developers, EPC firms, policymakers, and land use planners looking to make informed decisions during the construction and operation of solar projects,” said AFT Agrivoltaics Senior Technical Specialist Austin Kinzer. “By understanding and improving soil health, stakeholders can mitigate long-term risks like erosion and site instability, reduce maintenance costs, and transform soil from a liability into a long-term asset. AFT advocates for Smart Solar, which supports farm viability, equity, and resilient soils—while helping ensure solar development is both economically and environmentally sustainable for rural communities.”
At the Summit, AFT also highlighted an aligned partnership with the InSPIRE program led by the National Renewable Energy Lab. The new collaboration, to be called AGRI-Tech – is the first comprehensive technical assistance program in America and will provide no-cost support to help farmers explore and implement agrivoltaics. AGRI-Tech will provide expert guidance, tools, and one-on-one support to make agrivoltaics more accessible and profitable for producers.
Further, AFT has joined with the American Solar Grazing Association and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to recognize farmers, energy developers, and other innovators through the 2025 North American Agrivoltaics Awards (NAAA), an annual campaign to discover, elevate, and celebrate outstanding achievements in the advancement of agricultural and ecological dual-use solar development in America.
“AFT is proud to join in honoring this year’s national agrivoltaics awardees and in celebrating new partnerships to launch new services and resources for farmer-first approaches to solar energy,” said AFT Smart Solar Director Ethan Winter. “We are grateful to our partners for their invaluable support for AFT’s groundbreaking efforts, including to diversify farm income, increase environmental sustainability, and bring economic opportunity to farmers and rural communities.”
The Solar Farm Summit’s opening plenary, Advancing Agrivoltaics, Farm Viability, and Rural Resilience – State & Local Leadership Perspectives, featured remarks from Lester-Moffitt, highlighting the challenges facing farmers and how agrivoltaics can enhance thriving farms with support from states. Lester-Moffitt joined New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Ed Wengryn and other agricultural experts from Indiana and Colorado at the kickoff session.
“State leadership support from Colorado to New Jersey has been critical to recent advances in agrivoltaics,” said Winter. “It is ultimately in the financial interest of major agricultural states to support farmer-first strategies for energy that benefit producers and enable farmers to keep land in production while increasing the supply of renewable energy to America’s communities and industries.”
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American Farmland Trust is the only national organization that takes a holistic approach to agriculture, focusing on the land itself, the agricultural practices used on that land, and the farmers and ranchers who do the work. AFT launched the conservation agriculture movement and continues to raise public awareness through our No Farms No Food® message. Since our founding in 1980, AFT has helped permanently protect over 8 million acres of agricultural lands, advanced environmentally sound farming practices on millions of additional acres, and supported thousands of farm families.
