We've been on a deer lease in Matagorda County for about 10 years. The land owner called today and said he is going to lease the 1,600 acres to a company putting in a solar farm. He didn't have many details, but was pretty sure we were going to be kicked off the lease.

Anyone else have any dealings with a solar farm? He said the back part of the lease would be untouched. I would think we'd want to find another place anyway since there will be trucks and construction.

On another note, I think he said they are leasing to the solar people for like $5,000/acre. Wowzer!

How big is the entire lease you have? Will the solar farm option not be for the entire property you lease?

Assuming this is the first time this has been brought to the landowner, this is likely just an option to develop their property, not a solar project actually confirmed to be build. I don't know your specific situation of course, that's just the most likely scenario.

You shouldn't be kicked off the lease until the solar company exercises their option. All the solar projects in this area are preliminary and the companies are hording as much land as they can.

The number you think he's getting is not correct if this is a lease - but I've heard as much as $600 - $850/ac.

Even if it isn't the whole place and construction is complete by deer season, you're gonna have zero deer movement through whatever is leased as it's going to be fenced off with chain link fence most likely.

Kurt Gowdy said:

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You shouldn't be kicked off the lease until the solar company exercises their option. All the solar projects in this area are preliminary and the companies are hording as much land as they can.

The number you think he's getting is not correct if this is a lease - but I've heard as much as $600 - $850/ac.

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The entire lease is 1,600 acres.

Of course, I was dazed and confused when he called because this is an unbelievable lease, which is 40 minutes from my front door to the stand. We have harvested so many nice deer and the hogs are plentiful, of course. All of which means that I wasn't listening as carefully as I should have. He did say it might be awhile, but if the company wanted us off then he'd refund our money.

Sounds like you have a pretty nice deal with a good land owner. Take advantage until construction starts.

About 15 years ago I was on a lease near Sweetwater. The land owner had about 19 mills put in on the 3200 acres we leased. They worked year round so it was a bother during hunting season but on the plus side all of a sudden we had a network of great roads. We stayed out of their way and they seemed to be pretty self contained. We got to see what those gadgets are all about up close. And when we did have contact with the workers they were very friendly and informative.

So, as long as you don't get the boot it might not be too bad.

rlb28 said:

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We've been on a deer lease in Matagorda County for about 10 years. The land owner called today and said he is going to lease the 1,600 acres to a company putting in a solar farm. He didn't have many details, but was pretty sure we were going to be kicked off the lease.

Anyone else have any dealings with a solar farm? He said the back part of the lease would be untouched. I would think we'd want to find another place anyway since there will be trucks and construction.

On another note, I think he said they are leasing to the solar people for like $5,000/acre. Wowzer!

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I believe there are a couple in the tri county area.

One of the proposed farms is supposedly 4000 acres. They are going through the tax abatement process with Louise ISD now. They may have the proposed impacted area filed for public review.

The El Campo Leader has a lot of the details and hearings for the proposals. May have to subscribe for their website though.

Difference between this and the wind farm that failed is this supposedly has former US Congressmen involved on the board and are highly connected politically. My County Commissioner made the comment that those involved had influence WAY above his pay grade to make it happen.

It's similar to the farms going in around Sealy and a couple other places.

Hope that helps.

Major construction of these things actually happens pretty quickly. Most of the pilings and panels are installed in just a few months and the rest is basically just hooking the thing up and tying to the grid. You will definitely see a difference in animal movements since the entire thing will be fenced so it will take a while for them to work out new movements around the project, if they even do at all.

The $5,000/ac doesn't sound right, every landowner I have spoken with has said something in the $450-$750 range.

It might be a right to purchase, not lease.

These companies have a deadline of middle to late 2020 to start construction or have a percentage of their material purchased etc. so they don't miss out on the subsidies being offered - or that's how I understood it when explained.

This thing will have to move fast to meet those deadlines. Keep an eye on the local papers to keep up to date on what the taxing entities are thinking about the abatements. Every company I've spoken with said they will move to another county if no abatements are offered. I heard the County Judge in Matagorda County is not very interested the solar companies at this point.

Our owner notified us this year that he's putting wind turbines up on our lease (500 ac). Quantity and locations TBD. Said he'll work with us on price if/when our hunting is disturbed. We figure the new roads will be great, and animal movement should be ok after construction. Most of the land around us is also getting in on them...
Solar farm just went in a few years ago a few miles away. The thing is huge...
(33.0096782, -99.6046837) Haskell County

Kurt Gowdy said:

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These companies have a deadline of middle to late 2020 to start construction or have a percentage of their material purchased etc. so they don't miss out on the subsidies being offered - or that's how I understood it when explained.

This thing will have to move fast to meet those deadlines. Keep an eye on the local papers to keep up to date on what the taxing entities are thinking about the abatements. Every company I've spoken with said they will move to another county if no abatements are offered. I heard the County Judge in Matagorda County is not very interested the solar companies at this point.

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This isn't true for solar. The ITC lasts much longer. The 2020 timeframe you're thinking of is for the PTC which impacts wind. Solar has a few more years with the ITC.

Been there, pretty cool.

There is a new solar plant going in near Chillicothe that supposedly going to be 4,000 contiguous acres.

I worked on the sub station just to the south. That's how we found the lease.