Senator Pam Helming recently visited Schum-Acres Dairy Farm, a family-owned farm in Naples, to learn more about daily operations and the growing impact of energy access and infrastructure costs on local agriculture. During the visit, she met with the Schumacher family to discuss the challenges of expanding electric capacity to support modern dairy operations. This issue is making it more difficult for farms to grow and remain competitive.

Reliable and affordable energy is essential for dairy farms that depend on consistent power for milking, refrigeration, and daily operations. While New York ranks #1 in the nation for new private sector investment in dairy manufacturing, with more than $3.5 billion flowing into Upstate, many farmers continue to face barriers at the production level.

Senator Helming said, “New York’s dairy production is growing, but Albany’s costly mandates are making it harder for farms to keep up. From utility bills and fertilizer to equipment, labor, and compliance, farmers are being squeezed from every direction. That is why I am fighting to eliminate costly all-electric mandates that strain our electric grid, return billions in unused state energy funds directly to ratepayers, and advance common-sense legislation that brings down costs for our farmers. Agriculture is the backbone of our rural communities, and our policies should help farms succeed, not stand in their way.”

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