MORROW COUNTY — Despite being slated for almost 11,000 acres of farmland, a major solar project has won approval from Oregon energy siting regulators without encountering any formal protests.

The Sunstone Solar Project will be in an exclusive agricultural zone, including 4,400 acres in an irrigation district or otherwise considered high-value farmland. Solar panels and associated equipment will take up about 86% of that footprint, which is near the town of Lexington.

The state’s Energy Facility Siting Council in November cleared the project for construction without any opponents challenging the proposal as part of a contested case hearing.

Such objections can delay the approval of projects by EFSC, but the project’s developer, Pine Gate Renewables, was able to complete the process a little more than two years after notifying the council of its intentions.

A review of written public comments shows the proposal enjoyed broad support from local governments, union officials, business groups, nonprofit organizations and neighboring farmers, though it did encounter concerns about the safety of lithium-ion batteries and its proximity to a natural gas pipeline.

“The Sunstone Solar team has taken meaningful steps in the hopes of mitigating any adverse effects their project has on Morrow County’s agricultural community,” according to the Morrow Soil and Water Conservation District. “We appreciate their forward thinking and commitment to that goal.”

Brian and Peggy Doherty, dryland wheat farmers whose property will be included in the project, said their property produces “marginal” yields and has a limited ability to grow forage for cattle due to groundwater pumping restrictions in the area.

“Diversifying our income would be a welcome change for our farm. We will continue to farm on 1,100 acres next to the project area,” the farmers wrote to EFSC. “The revenue our family receives from Sunstone Solar will allow us to invest in other agricultural projects, as well as providing us with more margin to purchase inputs locally.”

Ken Grieb, another farmer on whose property the solar project will be built, also said groundwater curtailments and low rainfall in the region have constrained his wheat production, while the surrounding landscape has mushroomed with wind turbines, gas pipelines and large transmission lines.

“Throughout all this energy development, we have successfully adapted our farming to the new energy uses, but at some point it has become clear to us that our farm is better positioned to be a part of the energy production surrounding it, rather than a simple pass through for it,” Grieb wrote to EFSC.

The Oregon Department of Energy doesn’t “necessarily want to speculate about why the local community didn’t express opposition” to the Sunstone Solar Project, but it’s worth noting the developer had to create a “mitigation plan” for building on farmland, said Jennifer Kalez, the agency’s communications director.

Under the terms of that deal, the developer will pay up to $11 million for using cropland within the project boundaries to Morrow County, which will decide how to spend the money based on the recommendations of a nine-member advisory committee familiar with local agricultural issues.

The developer’s donation must be used “only to benefit dryland wheat agriculture,” such as increasing the “economic productivity and resilience” of farmers in the county, according to the agreement. For example, the Morrow Soil and Water Conservation District wants to use the funds for “precision weed implements” that will help growers reduce expenses for fuel, labor and chemicals.

Pine Gate Renewables, the project’s developer, told EFSC the money may also be used for the construction of a new grain facility and improvements to an existing one, increasing local storage capacity to benefit the stability of the region’s wheat industry.

“These potential projects will do far more than merely compensate for the indirect impacts to the Morrow County agricultural economy,” the company said.