Jonathan and Rosie Koop are behind Nioka Solar, a proposed 250MW solar and battery storage project on their 404-hectare property south-west of Glenrowan.
What sets it apart from other projects, Jonathan said, is that under the agrisolar model farming continues under the panels.
Agrisolar, pairing solar infrastructure with active agriculture, is gaining traction internationally and across regional Victoria.
Raise panels high enough, space them wide enough, and the land beneath stays productive.
For sheep farmers, the fit is unusually good.
Sheep graze freely between and beneath panels, keeping grass down and cutting maintenance costs.
The panels provide shade that reduces heat stress on stock, limits soil moisture loss, and offers shelter in harsh weather.
“It’s an opportunity for sheep farmers everywhere,” Mr Koop said.
“The industry is uniquely positioned to benefit from the changes being brought by renewables, in a way that other farming can’t.”
For operators squeezed by rising costs and volatile prices, it offers a stable income floor independent of season or market, something Mr Koop knows first-hand.
His path here was shaped by necessity.
In 2024, he suffered serious injuries to his shoulder and leg that left him unable to farm for around six months.
“I was hobbling around with a stick, down to one arm and one leg — doesn’t make much of a farmer,” he said.
“I can’t keep going like this.”
Approaching 60, he tried to sell.
The property sat on the market for several months without a suitable buyer before he turned to agrisolar.
From the outset, the Koops said they have sought to bring their community with them.
The first call was to the CFA on fire safety.
They have since worked with Benalla Rural City Council, visited neighbours, written letters and circulated newsletters, adjusting the design as concerns emerged.
The herd is expected to reduce to around two-thirds of its current size, shifting toward shedding breeds, with specialist guidance on the transition ensuring the animals remain healthy.
“We want it to be as much about farming as solar,” Mr Koop said.
“This is still our farm and still our animals.”
Mr Koop acknowledges he will need a development partner to fund and build the project.
Not everyone is persuaded.
Community opposition group ‘No Nioka Solar’ has raised concerns about fire risk in a designated bushfire-prone area, proximity to the Winton Wetlands, and the cumulative impact of multiple solar projects across the region.
One neighbour said she would be surrounded on all four sides of her property.
Spokesperson Libby Foubister said the community felt blind-sided, with early contact going unanswered and the project website briefly taken down after members made contact.
“We’d like more transparency about the project and more open conversations,” she said.
Mr Koop said specialist assessments on fire, flora and fauna, visual impact and hydrology were still under way.
A drop-in session is planned for June, and the Planning Permit Application is expected in the third quarter of 2026.
As renewable energy projects spread across the Hume region, the question of how farming and solar can coexist is one the industry will have to answer regardless.
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