TAMWORTH — Beef cattle will no longer be set out to pasture on a 200-acre plot in Stone Mills Township. The land is set to be the site of Canada’s first solar farm.

"My brother and I just thought that it’s time in our lives to let go of the land. I’m 60 years old, and it’s time to unload and slow down," said Jack Smith.

Jack and Eric Smith bought the land almost 40 years ago. They set close to 45 beef cattle out to pasture every summer on the land.The brothers sold the plot to Toronto-based SkyPower Corp. and SunEdison Canada, a subsidiary of SunEdison International of Beltsville, Md.

More than 200,000 photovoltaic solar panels will be operational by the end of 2009 on the plot, costing almost $100 million.

Added to the Ontario electricity grid, the solar panels will be able to power 2,000 homes. Smith still owns a farm, just north of Kingston, and has a cow-calf operation.