News and Stories

In 1995, a 529-acre farm was willed to the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden with one important condition: the land could only be developed if it furthered the Zoo’s conservation mission. Today, Bowyer Farm has expanded to more than 600 acres and serves as a unique crossover of regenerative agriculture, wildlife conservation, native plant propagation, renewable energy, and ecological restoration.

Across the property, the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden is restoring native habitats, improving soil and water quality, supporting pollinators and wildlife, and demonstrating how agriculture and conservation can work together to fight biodiversity loss.

GIS Land Use Map

The location of Bowyer Farm offers a unique opportunity to serve as a haven for wildlife and native ecosystems in a highly developed area. The map above displays urban growth (represented in red) compared to farmland (yellow), rangeland (tan) and natural woodlands (green). We can see that urban growth is closing in on the area around Bowyer Farm from all directions, showing the importance of maintaining native vegetation, habitat for local animals, and green space for educational and research purposes. By partnering with internal and external groups to conduct applicable research, we can discover how ecological conservation can coexist with agriculture, even amongst the expanding developmental landscape.

Bowyer Farm by the Numbers

• Over 600 acres of conservation, ecological restoration, and solar/agricultural production space
• More than 100 acres of restored wetlands and prairie
• ≈65 acres enrolled in conservation easements through CRP and EQIP
• 140-acre, 28 MW agrivoltaic solar array
• 208 identified bird species
• 39 reptile and amphibian species
• Approximately 40 bundles of browse harvested weekly for Zoo animals
• 6 annual Native Plants Sales that sold 13,100 plants in 2025
• 15,000 Browse Trees
• 65 acres of Hay Production for direct use at the Cincinnati Zoo
• 12 Hoop Houses in operation growing 364 plant species
• 512 Tons of animal waste diverted in 2025
• Upcoming TNC Stream Restoration Project on 48 acres
• NW CRP (1): 25.92 acres
• SE CRP (2): 10.62 acres
• EQIP: 28.32 acres
• TOTAL: 64.87 acres in Conservation Easements

Agrivoltaics: Solar Energy Meets Agriculture

The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden leases 140 acres of Bowyer Farm to Harrison Street for a 28 MW solar array that demonstrates agrivoltaics—the integration of renewable energy and agriculture on the same land.

Currently, 426 sheep graze beneath the solar panels while Ohio Solar Grazing (Brady and Amanda) continues expanding the flock toward approximately 800 sheep. Grazing naturally manages vegetation, improves soil health, and reduces maintenance while producing locally raised lamb for the Warren County community.

The project also generates clean electricity for the regional grid while providing approximately $150,000 annually in Payment in Lieu of Taxes for the Lebanon City School district.

Resident border collie Cider manages the flock while livestock guardian dog Bear, an Anatolian Shepherd, protects the sheep from predators.

In South Africa, Anatolian Shepherds help global conservation partner, Cheetah Outreach Trust in defending the flocks and herds of farmers. Learn more here.

Supporting Native Pollinators         

Melissa Profitt from Warren County Soil and Water Conservation District

A new conservation partnership is taking shape across the region to help support the population of a native butterfly, the Baltimore Checkerspot. The caterpillar of the orange and brown Baltimore Checkerspot butterfly depends on a host plant, the white turtlehead, for a larval food supply. So multiple local agencies are working together to expand white turtlehead plantings on the landscape.

White turtlehead, Chelone glabra, is a clump-forming, native perennial. The plants have deep green foliage of lance-shaped leaves with blooms appearing in dense clusters that open from bottom to top in late summer to fall. The flowers are irregular, two-lipped, and grow in dense spikes. Turtlehead is named for its white blossoms which resemble a turtle head poking out from its shell.

All images taken by Chelse Prather

Stream Restoration with The Nature Conservancy

The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden is partnering with The Nature Conservancy on an ambitious stream restoration and mitigation project covering 48.71 acres of Bowyer Farm.

The project will:

• Improve water quality
• Restore aquatic habitat
• Reduce erosion
• Improve watershed hydrology
• Expand wildlife corridors
• Remove invasive species
• Establish native vegetation along approximately 6,936 linear feet of stream

Construction is planned to start June 2027 following current assessment and pre-construction activities. Vegetation Indexing was recently completed on the project, which utilities sample areas to gauge what form of species are in the region of the project. Scoring this sample, TNC is able to make a plan of improvement based on promoting desirable species and removing non-desirable species.

Expanding Pollinator Habitat with the Warren County Beekeepers

This spring, the Warren County Ohio Beekeepers installed a new apiary at Bowyer Farm consisting of five beehives. This club is for new and experienced beekeepers, including Cincinnati Zoo Board member Anya Sanchez.

The apiary supports pollination across Bowyer Farm and neighboring properties while creating educational and volunteer opportunities for the local community. Within weeks of installation, three bee swarms had already established colonies. These pollinators can travel up to 2 miles, pollinating surrounding native plants.

Monitoring Water Quality

Bowyer Farm contains approximately 100 acres of restored wetlands, streams, and vernal pools within the Little Muddy Creek watershed.

The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden is working with neighboring conservation partners to develop a long-term water monitoring program that will evaluate both ecological and chemical indicators of watershed health.

Using GIS to Guide Restoration

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are becoming an essential tool for managing Bowyer Farm.

GIS allows the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden to visualize soil types, conservation areas, solar infrastructure, and restoration projects while connecting ecological data directly to locations across the property. Utilizing GIS, we hope to make more data informed decisions on our land management practices and be able to see over time how data changes acrost the property.

Measuring Soil Health

Healthy soil is the foundation of a healthy ecosystem as well as the basis of agriculture.

This summer, the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden began annual ecological health assessments across 40 monitoring locations representing Bowyer Farm’s diverse soil types. Utilizing our conservation spaces as a form of control, we will be able to compare how our different regenerative agricultural practices will impact the soil. Working alongside Greenacres, the team is collecting baseline information that will guide future regenerative agriculture efforts. Chemical analyses are planned for later in 2026.

Monitoring focuses on:

• Solar grazing areas
• Production fields (Browse and Crops)
• Conservation habitats

The team took notes on any grasses, microfauna, plant litter, erosion, or other ground features while measuring our 1m² of soil to sample. Pictures of the section were uploaded to GIS for future, more detailed analysis on plant species present.

Partners

• Greenacres Foundation
• Warren County Soil & Water Conservation District

Maple Syrup Production

Bowyer Farm’s maple syrup is nearly ready for bottling and will soon be available at the Bowyer Native Plant Sales. This year’s production started in the winter with our Warren County neighbor’s sugar shack. The Bowyer Farm Maple Grove is 200–250 maple trees, providing shade and habitat to wildlife. The sap collection process and syrup production process serve as a unique educational opportunity to many school groups that work with our education team in the winter, getting to see firsthand how trees can produce such a sweet treat.

Harvesting Browse for Zoo Animals

Summer is one of Bowyer Farm’s busiest seasons.

Each week, Bowyer provides approximately 40 bundles of browse, weighing about 15 pounds each, for animal habitats throughout the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden. Additional loose browse is harvested weekly for the elephants, while approximately 300 thirty-pound boxes will be frozen before winter to provide browse year-round.

Browse fields established over the past six years have matured into a reliable, sustainable food source for many of the Zoo’s animal residents.