LEBANON, Tenn. (Aug. 19, 2025) — U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins announced Monday that taxpayer dollars will no longer fund large-scale solar projects on prime American farmland, a move aimed at protecting agricultural land and food security.
Speaking alongside Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, Senators Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty, and other federal officials, Rollins said the USDA will also prohibit the use of solar panels manufactured by foreign adversaries in department-funded projects.
“Our prime farmland should not be wasted and replaced with green new deal subsidized solar panels,” Rollins said. “One of the largest barriers for young farmers is access to land. Subsidized solar farms have made it more difficult by making it more expensive and less available.”
USDA officials pointed to Tennessee as an example, where more than 1.2 million acres of farmland have been lost in the past three decades. That number is projected to rise to 2 million acres by 2027. Nationwide, farmland used for solar projects has increased nearly 50% since 2012.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee praised the announcement, calling farmland the state’s “national security, economic future, and children’s heritage.” Sen. Blackburn added that farmland “should be used to grow the crops that feed our state and country, not to house solar panels made by foreign countries.”
The USDA said the policy takes effect immediately. Ground-mounted solar projects larger than 50 kilowatts will no longer be eligible under the Rural Energy for America Program, and solar projects will not qualify for guaranteed loans under the Business and Industry Loan Program.
The decision builds on provisions of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which repealed or reduced several renewable energy tax credits.
