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Midwest had biggest share of utility-scale solar projects on cropland; largest share on pasture-rangeland was in West, 2012–20

Bar chart showing number of utility-scale solar projects on cropland, pasture-rangeland, forest, developed, and other land in the Atlantic, West, Midwest, South, and Plains regions from 2012 to 2020.

USDA, Economic Research Service researchers recently studied how solar and wind development affects land cover near wind turbines and solar farms. They found that cropland or pasture-rangeland usually stayed in the same land cover even after the addition of solar or wind development.

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