Missouri bill to limit solar to 2% of cropland

House Bill 2651 would restrict the amount of real estate used for solar power in any Missouri county from exceeding 2 percent of all cropland in that county

“My district is greatly affected by this issue, and it’s been a very divisive issue,” said Rep. Kent Haden, R-Mexico, the bill’s sponsor. “I have landowners who want to lease their land to solar facilities, and I think they have that right to do that. It’s their land, they can do what they want to do with it. I also have people that are adjacent to it who have quarter- to half-million-dollar homes on 10 acres that will be surrounded on four sides by solar, and that changes the value of their property.”

Haden’s bill also would require 75 percent of solar panels and equipment used in Missouri solar projects to be of U.S. origin, he said, adding that 80 percent of solar panels are currently made in China.

Statewide, the share of land used for agriculture is shrinking, with 15,599,446 acres of total cropland in 2017 compared to 14,764,750 acres in 2022

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