Sheep Industry News June 2025

Producers Get Targeted Education A merican Solar Grazing Association Treasurer Chad Raines spent a year studying solar grazing before he ever turned his sheep out onto a site. In early May, he was on to move their sheep operations toward contract grazing. Others decided the opportunity wasn’t the right fit and more than a few fell somewhere in the middle as they were a bit overwhelmed by the challenge yet intrigued by the opportunity.

hand as the American Lamb Board’s Targeted Grazing Workshop in Sulphur Springs, Texas, tried to teach sheep producers every thing they needed to know about solar in two and a half days. “I wish I’d had something like this when I was getting started,” said Raines, who runs 10,000 head of owned and leased sheep with a partner on a handful of solar sites in Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas. “It’s been a great introduction to solar grazing.” While veteran solar grazer JR Howard and ALB’s Camren Mai erle served as official instructors for the workshop, they turned to Raines for his perspective on the industry regularly during two days of classroom instruction before workshop attendees visited a solar site grazed by Howard’s Texas Solar Sheep on the third day. “They didn’t have a certification course like this when I got started,” Raines said. “So, I was just out there trying to learn it on my own.” Fortunately, he had some mentors in fellow Texas grazers Ely Valdez and Howard. They led him to ASGA, which was develop ing online resources for grazers, and his education took off from there. Now, he’s looking at plans to run up to 20,000 sheep on solar sites within the next few years. “Solar grazing really saved our family farm,” said Raines, who was a fourth-generation cotton grower in Lamesa, Texas. “We were struggling with cotton and dug ourselves a hole with it. We were digging out of it with sheep, but at a much slower rate than we are now thanks to solar grazing. It’s an exciting time for the sheep industry. I love the fact that my oldest son is now working for me. And my younger son is in college but when he finishes, he can come and work with us too if that’s what he wants. Without solar grazing, that wouldn’t have been possible.” As was the case with previous grazing workshops hosted by ALB, some attendees left the training with a new determination

“A ranch we lease a bunch of sheep from as at this workshop last year,” said Raines. “They like solar grazing, but realized it wasn’t for them. They didn’t want to deal with all of the paper work and jumping through hoops that comes with this industry. But they still wanted to be a part of it. So, they leased their sheep to us and we run them on solar. They get a check and are part of solar grazing without the hassle. “Your mindset really has to change to do this. Yes, you’re still managing a flock and managing grass, but you have to do things a little differently on these sites. You have to realize this is a service industry. My sheep take the place of lawn mowers. There are places where I’m rotating earlier than I normally would, and it’s not because I’ve run out of grass or I’m worried about overgraz ing. It’s because I’ve got other places that really need to be hit.” GET CERTIFIED Students of the school will receive a USB drive featuring ASI’s Targeted Grazing 101 and Targeted Grazing Handbook . They also received an ASGA certification for attending the workshop, which could potentially open the door to more grazing opportu nities – especially for those just getting started with an opportu nity that has excited the American sheep industry like no other in the past 50 years. “That’s why I’m here,” said Matt Kraus, whose K-Bar Resource Management offers small-scale solar grazing in south Texas. Based in Falls City – south of San Antonio – he has grazed sites for a couple of years now. “It’s always good to see what other people are doing and what’s working for them. I haven’t done any mowing yet because I’m on mostly smaller sites. But it sounds like I might have to be open to doing that in the future.”

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