LRE Supports the Future of Agriculture at the State Fair of Texas

The bright future of agriculture was on full display at the recent State Fair of Texas in Dallas, and LRE was there to support and encourage it.

LRE sponsored the State Fair’s Youth Sheep Skill-a-thon, a rigorous competition challenging students to show their knowledge, skills, and enthusiasm about raising and managing sheep, from animal care and breeding to hands-on demonstrations. 

Skillathon participants are required to take a written exam, perform several skills demonstrations, and deliver a speech on topics such as sheep predator problems found in Texas.

LRE’s sponsorship of the Skill-a-thon included a scholarship awarded to the winner of the Senior division featuring high school age members of FFA, 4-H or similar agricultural organizations. This year’s winner was a high school sophomore from the Dallas area.

Our sponsorship, which included a booth at the event, was a perfect blend of the values of the LRE Foundation, from education and sustainability to agrivoltaics and community involvement.

“It was so exciting to see and experience the knowledge and enthusiasm of the competitors,” noted Brooke Akins, Sr. Manager of ESG. “These students represent the future leaders of agriculture and sustainability and it’s important for us to support them.”

The sponsorship was initiated by Adam Schappaugh, who in addition to working as LRE’s Real Estate Manager, is a Youth Livestock Committee volunteer with the State Fair of Texas.

“Many of our stakeholders are farmers and ranchers, so it makes sense for us to align with and support the agricultural community,” Adam noted. “It’s another way for us to counter some of the negative views of renewables. We’re saying LRE can provide clean power to energize a big data center while having sheep graze on our site. It’s an important partnership for us.”

Emily Williams, Livestock Director for the State Fair of Texas added that LRE’s sponsorship was a perfect match for the State Fair of Texas, “It was very meaningful and impactful to have a company like LRE support the Skill-a-thon. We want to align ourselves with companies like LRE whose education and sustainability goals are the same as ours. It also provides an opportunity for the students to learn about companies who are involved with livestock like LRE is with sheep grazing at some of their energy projects. It’s beneficial to them and their future.”

More than 250 visitors stopped by the LRE booth at the State Fair’s Briscoe Carpenter Livestock Center. Throughout the event, LRE’s team met with landowners, small business owners, agriculture students, and fair visitors including Dr. Shawn Ramsay from the Department of Animal Science at Texas A&M University, a respected leader in the sheep and lamb industry across Texas and beyond. 

About LRE

LRE (Leeward Renewable Energy) is a high-growth renewable energy company forging a sustainable future through integrity, innovation, and positive impact. We own and operate over 30 large wind, solar, and energy storage projects across the United States, totaling over 4 gigawatts (GW) of generating capacity.  

LRE has an ambitious goal of 10GW of operating assets by 2028 and is developing and contracting an increasing pipeline of new projects every year. We take a full-lifecycle approach to our projects, built on a long-term ownership model and a company culture dedicated to our community partners and protecting the environment. LRE is a portfolio company of OMERS Infrastructure, an investment arm of OMERS, one of the largest defined pension plans in Canada, with C$128.6 billion in net assets (as of Dec 31, 2023). For more information, visit www.lreus.com.