John Rich Calls Out Governor in New York Solar Expansion Debate

John Rich Raises Concerns About Upstate NY Farmland and Solar Expansion

Country artist John Rich is shining a national light on what he says is a growing issue across Upstate New York — the rapid spread of large-scale solar farms on rural farmland.

Rich says he’s been digging into the situation himself, and he’s raising questions about how much “Prime Farmland” is being converted into energy projects instead of staying in agriculture.

Premium Soil That Needs to Be Protected

The USDA defines Prime Farmland as land with the best soil and conditions for growing crops. "It’s the premium soil that we protect,” explained Rich in a video on social media

He also claims the push for solar expansion is being driven by policy changes coming out of Albany. Rich accuses Governor Kathy Hochul of asking Cornell University to help “reimagine” how prime farmland is defined — something he believes is now being used to justify development.

“That is the report being used to run these people off their farms.”

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Miles of Solar Farms

According to reports, 18 large solar power plants are planned across New York farmland.

Rich is blunt about what he sees happening next:

“Kathy Hochul is going to let foreign companies come build 40 to 50 miles of solar farms in a part of the United States that is cloudy two-thirds of the year.”

Solar farms vs. farmland

At the center of Rich’s argument is a bigger concern — that productive farmland is being replaced by massive solar installations, potentially changing the landscape of rural New York for good and impacting local agriculture and economies.

Rich connects the issue back to state leadership, pointing to Governor Hochul’s administration and New York’s clean energy goals as key drivers behind the rapid expansion of solar projects in rural counties.

He says he plans to keep pressing the issue and bring national attention to what’s happening in Upstate New York.

It's already caught the attention of U.S Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, who applauded John Rich for bringing it to the USDA.

"Our great ranchers and farmers feed this nation — we cannot allow prime soils to be paved over for unreliable energy that displaces our producers. We are on it."

Where Will Food Come From

One thing is certain — you can’t eat solar panels and wind turbines.

So if farmland keeps getting taken out of production, where exactly is all the food supposed to come from when it’s no longer viable to farm?