OPINION: A mate of the Hound's reckons with NZ's agricultural production already under pressure - with swathes of good farming land being converted into trees for carbon farming - the advent of solar farms could be another big threat.
He suggests that for environmental protectio reasons, the country shouldn't allow solar farms in rural landscapes.
"The Todd Corporation farm proposed near Taupo will lose us $30 million in dairy products per year, how will that enable us to feed a world population of 10 billion by 2050?" the concerned farmer asks.
He points out that there are many industrial warehouse roofs in places like Auckland, Hamilton or Tauranga and that by placing solar farms in urban centres the power would be generated much closer to where it is to be used.
"We need to think again; protect our food-producing land from power predators," the worried farmer concludes.