Solar Power System Installations Impact Less Than 1% of Arkansas Agricultural Land

Large-scale solar power arrays occupy about 0.2% of agricultural land in Arkansas, according to an analysis by the U of A System Division of Agriculture.

Solar energy production is increasingly being used to meet both energy needs and zero net emissions goals within the United States. Arkansas is following this trend with several utility-scale solar energy production systems built in 2023 and 2024, and more scheduled to come online in the following years. This has raised some concerns over the displacement of agricultural land for non-food production purposes. 

"With the Arkansas economy more reliant on agriculture compared to the nation and surrounding states, diversion of agricultural land to other uses draws producer and consumer interest," said Mike Popp, the Harold F. Ohlendorf Professor of agricultural economics and agribusiness and co-author of a recently released fact sheet titled "Agricultural Land Footprint of Solar Photovoltaic Installations in Arkansas."

While generally considered to have minimal impact on crop prices, other questions about proximal real estate value impacts, exposure to weather risk and land restoration considerations exist, the fact sheet noted.

By 2026, there will be 15 counties in Arkansas, mostly in the agricultural-dominated Delta, with utility-scale solar arrays. Utility-scale is defined as 20 megawatts or larger. Currently, 11 counties have these large-scale solar projects on lands defined by a U.S. Department of Agricultural census as agricultural land. Four more utility-scale projects are scheduled through 2026, including one in Grant County on land considered "woodland or timberland areas."

Using information gathered from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the researchers show that utility-scale solar arrays will occupy 0.2% of the state's 13.7 million acres of agricultural land under current projections through 2026. In counties where these larger solar arrays are used, land use ranges from 0.2% to 1.7% of agricultural land.

The utility-scale solar projects range from up to 445 acres for a 50-megawatt site to up to 2,670 acres for a 300-megawatt site.

As of 2023, the state had about 15,000 megawatts of electrical generating capacity, with natural gas, coal, nuclear and other energy sources like hydropower, solar and wind. According to the study, up to 133,500 acres of land would be required across the state to double the state's electrical generating capacity with solar, offsetting demand for power from natural gas, coal, nuclear and hydropower during the day. 

"Even under this extreme level of solar development, which is unlikely to happen, solar would use less than 1% of the 13.7 million acres of agricultural land," Popp said.

Popp is a faculty member with the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, the research arm of the Division of Agriculture, and the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences.