August 26, 2025
The Trump administration sets limits to the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP)Those farmers help install solar panels on their country.
Since 2014, the program has awarded around $ 1.2 billion in subsidies and $ 2.5 billion in solar energy loan guarantees in rural areas, the vast majority of that on farms (the emerging Agrivoltaic segment). About 70% of the funds of the program have gone to Solar projects in the last 10 years.
Now those funds will be much more difficult for farmers to get.
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) no longer finances taxpayers for solar panels on productive agricultural land or allow solar panels that are manufactured in USDA projects by foreign opponents, according to a government declaration.
“Our prime agricultural land may not be wasted and replaced by Green New Deal subsidized solar panels,” said American agriculture Minister Brooke L. Rollins. “It has been discouraging to see our beautiful agricultural land displaced by solar projects, especially in rural areas with a strong agricultural green.”
The decision will reduce energy subsidies and will discuss the withdrawal of and adjustments to wind, solar and other tax credits for renewable energy in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). It will be the determination of USDA to put an end to the support of the taxpayer for renewable energy sources, a departmental statement claims “priceless and unreliable” and ensures that the Supply Chain consists of products and production made by the US.
Immediately entrance to USDA will implement the following programmatic actions:
- Wind and solar projects are not eligible for the USDA Rural Development Business and Industry (B&I) guaranteed loan program.
- For the USDA Rural Development Rural Energy for America Program Guaranteed LOAN Program (Reap Barreled Loan Program), USDA will ensure that farmers, cattle farmers and producers with wind and solar energy sources will install units that are the right size for their facilities. If project applications mounted on the land mounted solar photovoltaic systems that are larger than 50 kW or solar-PV systems mounted on the ground that cannot document historical energy consumption, they are no longer eligible for the Prail-Guaranteed Loan Program and no priority points will be given for plants.
According to the Coalition for Community Solar Access (CCSA)The USDA decision “strips family farms and rural companies of a critical source of support for clean energy.” The CCSA reports that Reap “has funded thousands of projects and has delivered billions in economic development in the countryside”, including more than $ 2.75 billion of 2023-2025 alone. Jeff Cramer, CEO and President of the CCSA, says that Community Solar can help pick up the play with elimination of Reap funds.
“Farmers do not want Washington to tell them what they can and cannot do with their country. They want options,” said Jeff Cramer, CEO and President of the CCSA. “Community Solar gives them that freedom, the possibility of supplementing the agricultural income, to continue to work in production and to cover themselves against volatile markets. Where USDA Reap is scaled back, community zones, driven by private capital, embraced by agencies of the Staatsboerderij and rural communities and the freedom for farmers,”
Community Solar Projects can give landowners the opportunity to lease small parts of their country for the production of solar energy, while they continue to graze farmers or cattle on the remaining country. With smaller projects, farmers can use their under -utilized or lagging country for solar energy while they farm the rest. Projects for small community scale also make the use of Agrivoltaischei, which together combines solar and traditional agriculture and gets a grip rural As a way to combine the production of clean energy with food production, to strengthen local economies and keep agricultural land active.
The effective cancellation of the USDA of harvesting underlines the urgency of scalable, scoop -ready alternatives. Community Solar, fed by private investments and state leadership, is already producing results by keeping land in production, offering reliable lease income to farmers and reducing energy bills for households and companies.
“Federal cuts do not change reality on the ground,” said Cramer. “Community Solar works in 19 states throughout the country. It is the kind of innovation that farmers want, families needed, and deserve rural economies.”
Tags: Agrivoltaics, Policy, Reap
