As mentioned, a significant portion of the farmland used to produce ethanol also yields a co-product. Approximately one-third of the corn per bushel will be used to produce high-protein animal feed.1 In my previous letter, I briefly mentioned agrivoltaics, the dual use of land for solar and agriculture. Many solar farms raise livestock that freely graze…
It was recently written by our Republican State Treasurer, “These Hoosiers don’t have a lobbyist in Washington. They don’t have a seat at the table when a $33 billion deal gets signed.” Republicans have been the majority party in Indiana for more than a couple of decades. Any problems we have are the fault of…
While I respect Mr. Huddleston’s opinion, I believe the comparison between solar development and productive farmland overlooks several key facts. The claim that farmland would be more valuable covered with solar panels than growing crops overlooks several important facts about agriculture. While about 40% of U.S. corn is used for ethanol, that corn does not…
Explaining SNAP, Medicaid error rates by Niki Kelly, Indiana Capital Chronicle March 13, 2026 It’s all about the errors. Indiana lawmakers fear a heavy financial blow if they don’t reduce errors in the state’s food and health care assistance programs. That’s why they recently passed legislation with more eligibility checks and other regulatory requirements. “With…
BlackRock, along with EQT, the Qatar Investment Authority and CalPERS, has announced a $33 billion deal to acquire AES Corp., the parent company of AES Indiana. I am extremely concerned by the news that more than 500,000 Hoosiers in Marion, Hendricks, Morgan, Boone, Hamilton, Putnam, Johnson, Shelby and Hancock counties will now be served by…
To answer, Does turning farmland into solar make sense for our future? I think it makes more sense than how farmland is used to grow crops for fuel today. Roughly 38% to 40% of the total U.S. corn crop, more than 30 million acres, is farm-to-fuel land dedicated to growing corn for ethanol production. Now,…
As residents of Dubois County watch more farmland being proposed for large-scale solar projects, we should pause and ask a very simple question: Does this make sense for our future? Southern Indiana has some of the most productive farmland in the state. For generations, these fields have produced corn, soybeans, hay, and livestock that support…
Is this what you voted for? In 2024, while running for office, Donald Trump said he would act immediately to lower food prices. Have you been to the grocery store lately? He said that he had a plan to reduce health care costs. Have you been to the doctor lately, the hospital, the drug store?…
I and three of my grandkids went to see the Disney movie “Hoppers” over the weekend. The movie is about a mean old mayor named Jerry who is trying to build a road over a pond and a beautiful nature area called the Glades. There is a young girl named Mabel, trying to save the…
We are being told that large-scale solar and Battery Energy Storage Systems are perfectly safe. That statement deserves serious scrutiny. High-density lithium-ion battery storage facilities are not passive infrastructure. When these systems fail, they fail in a way that is fundamentally different from most other industrial fires. The documented risk is thermal runaway, a cascading…
