In a field a few miles southwest of the city of Lexington in Kentucky, a sheep is quietly grazing in the shade. This is a very special sheep. It has been carefully selected from a rare breed to control the vegetation at Kentucky’s largest solar farm.

The practice is known as Solar Grazing, an environmentally friendly and incredibly cost effective solution to what would otherwise involve slow and back-breaking manual labour.

How this sheep got to be in this place at this time is a story that began 300 years ago and thousands of miles away in Manchester, England. And it is a story that involves a religious movement known as ‘The Shakers’…

Guests

Aron Patrick, Manager – Technology Research and Analysis, LG&E and KU

Mike Moore, Farm Manager, Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill

William Updike, Vice President – , Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill

Resources

For more information on Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, click here 

To listen to the Shaker song ‘Simple Gifts’, which appeared in this episode, click here

For more information on the LG&E and KU Research and Analysis Department, click here 

To find the utility’s own ‘EweTube’ channel, click here

For the American Solar Grazing Association, click here