Town hosts renewal energy conference for farmers March 1

Warwick - The Town of Warwick is sponsoring a conference aimed at supporting the agricultural economy in Orange County on Thursday, March 1, from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Town Hall. This conference, “Energizing Agriculture: Opportunities for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency on the Farm,” will include presentations by leading experts on issues including biofuels production, energy conservation and efficiency, solar and other renewable energy technologies and financing sources to support implementation. There is no charge and lunch is included for people who pre-register by Tuesday, Feb. 27. To register call Barbara Devine in the town supervisor’s office at 845-986-1120, ext. 241. The cost of fuel and electricity is a significant cost of doing business for most farmers and rising prices cut into already-thin profit margins for many farms. At the same time, these trends also create opportunities for using renewable energy to power farm operations, growing renewable energy crops and implementing energy efficiency measures to reduce energy costs, according to conference organizers. A key goal for this conference is to explore how farmers and others in the region can work together to address these issues and thereby help to protect and enhance the region’s agricultural economy. Leonard DeBuck, a farmer and Warwick town board member, helped organize the conference with Everett Cox, a local resident working to support the regional farm economy. “It’s a changing world and energy might be one of our next crops,” DeBuck said. This conference will focus on steps farmers can take to reduce energy use in their agricultural operations and to produce energy on the farm. Featured speakers will be Glen Cauffman, who is managing biofuels and other energy projects at Pennsylvania State University; Richard Peterson, consultant to the State Energy Research and Development Authority; and John Brown, an Orange County farm owner who is developing a biofuels demonstration project in Montgomery. The program will also include a roundtable discussion about addressing energy issues affecting the region’s farms and how organizations and municipalities in the region can work together to support the agricultural economy. The speakers will describe emerging technologies that may provide new opportunities for Orange County farmers, such as growing and processing biofuels crops and using installing renewable energy technologies. They will discuss the farm energy audit, a low-cost process for identifying energy efficiency and conservation measures that can improve the profitability of farms using existing technology. The program will also include an overview of funding and technical assistance that supports implementation of efficiency and renewable projects. In addition to the town of Warwick, the conference is co-sponsored by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Orange County, Warwick Valley School District, Hudson Valley Regional Council, Orange County Department of Planning, Warwick Conservancy, Town of Warwick conservation board, Orange County Land Trust, Farm Service Agency and Orange Environment. This article was provided by Simon Gruber.