Economic and Food System Scope

The provisional Michigan livestock factor used in the beta was developed for localized regional impact analysis, but it is not county-specific. Vegetation management service payments are not multiplied. The Washtenaw comparison also contains different acreage and modeling assumptions between the GridFlora economist run and the solar economic report, so those results should not be treated as a controlled one-for-one comparison.

Provisional downstream sheep value chain factors apply only to modeled livestock receipts, never to solar or vegetation management expenditures. Output, labor income, value added, employment, farm revenue, meat value, and job years are different measures and must not be added together.

Gross farm revenue combines livestock receipts and vegetation management service revenue. It is not margin or profit. In feeder lamb mode, net margin remains unavailable until dedicated feeder costs are modeled.

FY2026 NRCS Benchmark Method and Eligibility Boundary

Verified current reference: GridFlora uses the supplied NRCS MI FY2026 payment schedules.xlsx workbook. Michigan Practice 315 Biological Control, Low Density lists $412.25 per acre for the standard payment and $494.70 for the historically underserved payment. Dividing those payments by 75% and 90%, respectively, reconstructs an estimated actual cost of $549.67 per acre. The corresponding high density treatment reconstructs to $1,099.33 per acre.

These are annual, state and scenario specific federal cost references. They are not commercial solar grazing prices, contract bids, required payment floors, or findings that a solar facility or farmer qualifies for NRCS assistance. The selected Practice 315 scenario represents a land stewardship treatment component; a commercial bid must add the actual livestock service, operating, access, safety, reporting, mobilization, and project risk requirements.

Practice boundary: Practice 528 Grazing Management supports an eligible agricultural producer applying a conservation grazing plan, typically with the producer’s own flock or herd, on eligible land the producer controls. It is not a solar grazing contract price. Practices such as Brush Management, Herbaceous Weed Treatment, planting, habitat management, roofs and covers, heavy use area protection, wells, and watering facilities describe conservation work on eligible land. GridFlora may use their estimated costs as comparable planning benchmarks without implying that the solar site, owner, or service provider is eligible for funding.

Practice 315 allows biological, mechanical, or chemical methods alone or in combination and directs grazing treatments to Practice 528. Invasive species treatment, string trimming, cleanup mowing, and other mechanical or chemical work therefore remain separately scoped unless a contract expressly includes them. Practice 314 is relevant only when woody vegetation conditions justify brush treatment.

The FY2026 open land Practice 315 mechanical control reference reconstructs to $76.92 per acre. GridFlora does not use it as the default solar mowing price because array work can require significant backtracking around piles, wires, cables, drivetrains, fencing, pollinator or wildlife habitat, and access constraints. The provisional solar mowing default remains visibly labeled until a more comparable scenario and method are approved.

For selected incurred cost scenarios, the standard and historically underserved payment rows independently reconstruct the same estimated cost using 75% and 90%. That conversion must not be applied blindly to every schedule row: federal rules may treat income foregone and other payment components differently. GridFlora stores curated, versioned scenarios and source year rather than attempting a fragile live scrape of the NRCS website.

The farmer finance panel also provides selected FY2026 Michigan cost references for roofs and covers, heavy use areas, wells, watering facilities, wind shelters, and shade structures. These are preliminary capital planning benchmarks, not complete designs, contractor quotes, grants, or underwriting decisions.

Environmental Attribute Screen

The carbon screen multiplies user entered acres, an editable annual quantity assumption, and a broad $5 to $30 per tCO2e market range. The default quantity is an unverified legacy planning assumption, not an issued credit. The biodiversity screen shows a maximum premium of up to 30% on verified carbon value rather than inventing a stand-alone credit price. REC calculations remain zero until the attribute owner enters annual MWh and an applicable price range.

These values must not be stacked unless ownership, additionality, allocation, verification, registry or buyer rules, and retirement protections establish separate nonoverlapping attributes. Groundcover selection alone does not create a credit, Scope 3 claim, energy yield value, or avoided cost.

The tool will use a dated embedded fallback if the current endpoint cannot be reached.

Current Reference Lineage