Silicon Ranch unveils Houston Solar Project, lambing barn to community

ELKO – Silicon Ranch hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony of their Houston Solar Project April 12, celebrating a new era of agriculture in the county.

Local leaders and Silicon Ranch representatives were there to celebrate the achievement, including Houston County Board of Commissioners Chairman Dan Perdue, Rep. Shaw Blackmon, Rep. Bethany Ballard, Houston County Development Authority Executive Director Angie Gheesling and Sen. Larry Walker.

The ranch includes 250,000 solar panels, enough to power 11,000 homes in the area. It does not only include a solar farm, but 900 sheep as well. The 26,000 square-foot Houston Lambing Barn is home to many working sheep who do lawn maintenance on the property by eating the grass. 

Silicon Ranch Chief Commercial Officer Matt Beasley shared his excitement for the Houston Solar project, which took two years to complete. 

Beasley said there are 20 operating sites throughout the state of Georgia, this site including the lambing barn. The company is also a part of the National Sheep Improvement program. 

“Today, we dedicated this facility that we completed construction on in the end of 2023. We’ve already gone through one lambing season already. We’ve seen what this thing can do. What’s really exciting is to see how this will really have an impact over the next several years, as we continue to grow the flock,” he said.

During the ceremony, representatives talked about data collection and the National Sheep Improvement program. The company hopes to rebuild and strengthen the sheep industry and build sheep capacity in the southeast.

“I think as we started to grow our own flock and understand what we are trying to accomplish in the Southeast, being told ‘There’s simply not enough sheep. You’re not going to be able to do what you want to do.’ We could have just said okay and gone back to conventional land management. Well, we said, ‘There’s got to be a way to do this.’ Today, I think represents seeing that vision through, really executing it: that idea that really was just an idea,” Beasley said. 

He shared the Georgia National Fairgrounds has been an impact for the agricultural community for almost 35 years, and he is honored the company will be a part of that legacy. He hopes to bring in 3,000 sheep to the state by the end of the year. He added Silicon Ranch partnered with Georgia Young Farmers Association and Houston Young Farmers to help the next generation in the sheep industry.

“We’re doing it here in Houston County. A place that’s got this legacy and I think that’s really compelling, and it’s really cool for the next generation,” Beasley said. 

Beasley described the industry as burgeoning, but bringing it back was rewarding. He said there is no other solar company that owns its own flock of sheep while producing clean and renewable energy.

“That’ll be an achievement enough, to be able to go the next step and say on the same piece of property we’re going to graze livestock and on the same piece of property we’re going to invest in infrastructure to facilitate growing a flock not just for ourselves but really for the entire industry across the southeast and the U.S. It’s pretty special,” he said. 

During the ceremony, Perdue thanked Silicon Ranch for their partnership and investment in Houston County. As someone with an agriculture background, Perdue shares he is looking forward to Silicon Ranch’s economic impact in the community

“I’m really excited that we still have many of those agricultural roots here in Houston County. I’m excited that this lambing facility of the genetic program here will become part of those agricultural roots and that Houston County is giving back,” he said. 

The Houston Solar Project is located south of I-75, to find out more click here