Biology Researcher’s Paper Explores Agriculture Practices, Solar Energy and Photovoltaic Systems

May 28, 2025

By Josh Rhoten

Matt Sturchio, a former graduate student and researcher in the Department of Biology, is the first author on a new paper in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences assessing the relationships between agriculture practices in the U.S. and solar energy and photovoltaic systems.

The paper – titled Ecologically Informed Solar Enables a Sustainable Energy Transition in U.S. Croplands – envisions sustainable agroecosystems that can result from converting a small proportion of corn ethanol croplands into ecologically informed solar facilities.

The authors argue that U.S. croplands are ideal environments for solar photovoltaic (PV) energy because they are flat and have a high solar resource. However, perceived threats of solar to agriculture have led some stakeholders to suggest that croplands be used exclusively to produce food.

Source : colostate.edu

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Border View Farms is a mid-sized family farm that sits on the Ohio-Michigan border. My name is Nathan. I make and edit all of the videos posted here. I farm with my dad, Mark and uncle, Phil. Our part-time employee, Brock, also helps with the filming. 1980 was our first year in Waldron where our main farm is now. Since then we have grown the operation from just a couple hundred acres to over 3,000. Watch my 500th video for a history of our farm I filmed with my dad.

I started making these videos in the fall of 2019 as a way to help show what I do on a daily basis as a farmer. Agriculture is different from any other industry and I believe the more people that are showing their small piece of agriculture, helps to build our story. We face unique challenges and stressful situations but have some of the most rewarding payoffs in the end. I get to spend everyday doing what I love, raising my kids on the farm, and trying to push our farm to be better every year. I hope that I can address questions or concerns that you might have about farms and agriculture.