Services
Illinois Solar Grazing and the team at Watson Farms, approach vegetation management for solar sites using an adaptive strategy grounded in field observations, ground conditions, and ecological feedback. We do not believe in a one-size-fits-all or boilerplate plan—especially in the early years of vegetation establishment. Our goal is to balance effective vegetation control, promote successful seed establishment, and maintain a healthy, biodiverse landscape that supports solar production and sheep grazing in a sustainable manner.
We work directly with our partners to put together a personalized vegetation management plan that could include:
Sustained Solar Grazing with a lower density of sheep over the duration of the grazing season.
Mob Solar Grazing with a higher density of sheep used for part of the grazing season.
Exterior Mowing of solar sites or open areas.
Inside the Fence Mowing and Trimming for solar sites that are not conducive to grazing (although we believe so strongly in the power of sheep that solar grazing is our first choice, but do have partnerships for mow only sites.)
Pre-Construction or During Construction Mowing to help combat annual weed pressure and maintain vegetation before sites are complete.
Herbicide Application and spot spraying of noxious and invasive weeds.
Commercial Snowplowing of solar sites and their access roads during the wintertime.
Sheep from Illinois Solar Grazing on deployment day at a solar site in Cook County, Illinois
