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Steuben County holds agricultural roundtable to gather farmer input on power, labor and land pressures
Summary
Committee Chair K. Michael Hanna convened an April 29 roundtable in Bath where farmers and agency representatives raised concerns about power costs, labor shortages, land loss to renewable/data projects and recommended county actions including an Agricultural Plan update and partnerships with Soil & Water and Cornell Cooperative Extension.
K. Michael Hanna, chair of the Steuben County Agriculture, Industry and Planning Committee, opened a special agricultural roundtable at 8:35 a.m. on April 29 in Bath to solicit farmer input on how the county can better support agriculture. "We have held several small business roundtables throughout the County looking for input from our residents. This is our fourth roundtable event and we want to learn how the County can be more supportive of our farming community," Hanna said.
Attendees — including representatives from Cornell Cooperative Extension, the Soil & Water Conservation District, local farm owners and industry partners — identified multiple stressors facing local agriculture. Key issues raised were high costs and limited capacity for electricity service, persistent labor shortages and succession concerns, increasing extreme weather events, and pressure on productive acreage from renewable-energy projects and data centers. Participants urged the county to update its Agricultural Plan, continue promoting Agricultural Districts and deepen partnerships with Cornell Cooperative Extension and Soil & Water to connect farms with grants and technical assistance.
The roundtable also touched on market trends that affect profitability: growing demand for high-protein and shelf-stable milk products, local processing investments (examples cited: a Fairlife plant in Webster and Chobani expansion in Rome) and state-level incentives participants characterized as supportive, such as a cited 20% income-tax credit for production increases. The session closed at 10:05 a.m., with Mr. Hanna thanking attendees and noting the meeting’s intent to turn this input into advocacy and policy suggestions for the county.
