Trump: "We won't approve wind or farmer destroying solar projects"
President Donald Trump said the U.S. will no longer approve wind and solar projects that take farmland out of production, arguing they drive up electricity costs.
His comments, posted on Truth Social, came a day after the Department of Agriculture announced it was ending programs that provide federal support for clean energy development on productive farmland. The decision poses new challenges for growers who have relied on renewable incentives to supplement income during periods of low crop prices.
“Any state that has built and relied on WINDMILLS and SOLAR for power are seeing RECORD-BREAKING INCREASES IN ELECTRICITY AND ENERGY COSTS,” Trump wrote. “THE SCAM OF THE CENTURY! We will not approve wind or farmer-destroying Solar. The days of stupidity are over in the USA!!!”
Impact on energy and farmland
Electricity prices have risen sharply in the past year, though analysts attribute the increase largely to demand from data centers and new manufacturing, following years of little growth. Farmland prices have also climbed to record highs, partly due to demand for energy projects, though such development still represents a small fraction of U.S. agricultural acreage.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said in a Tuesday statement that subsidized solar farms have made farmland harder to access by “making it more expensive and less available.”
Under the new policy, the USDA will no longer allow wind and solar projects to qualify for rural development business loans. Solar projects larger than 50 kilowatts will also be excluded from the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP). In addition, USDA-funded projects cannot use panels manufactured by what the agency calls “foreign adversaries.”
Industry reaction
The American Farmland Trust, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting agricultural land, described REAP as “a key source of support” for nearly 20,000 farmers and businesses seeking to strengthen their operations.
According to the latest USDA agricultural census, nearly 120,000 farms had solar panels in 2022, up 30% from 2017, while about 14,500 farms had wind turbines. A 2024 USDA study found that in most cases, farmland around renewable projects remained in agricultural use.