Transcript:
In 2008, Texan Chad Raines took over his family’s cotton farm, which had been worked by his father and grandfather before him. But he struggled to stay afloat.
Raines: “It just kept getting harder and harder. The prices of everything that we bought to manage the farm kept going up.”
So he started raising sheep. That was more lucrative. But in drought years, he struggled to grow crops to feed his flock, so he had to either buy feed or lease additional land.
Raines: “Raising sheep was still more profitable than cotton, but we were just barely getting by.”
Then Raines heard that farmers could get paid to keep their sheep at solar farms.
The sheep graze around the solar panels, keeping weeds from shading them. And the farmers can still harvest meat, milk, and wool.
So now Raines raises sheep on nine solar farms. He says he’s finally making a profit and building a business he can pass on to his sons.
Raines: “We were out at one of our sites … and it just dawned on me. I stepped back and realized that I was out there along with my dad and both of my boys. Just to think that there were three generations of us all working together … you know, it’s meant a lot to our family to be able to keep it going.”
Reporting credit: Ethan Freedman / ChavoBart Digital Media
