Ronnybrook Farm Dairy, which has operated for 65 years, expects to reduce costs by installing a solar water heating system to preheat the water for processing milk. The system will allow the farm to replace more than 2,000 gallons of heating oil a year with clean, renewable solar power, reducing costs for the dairy.
      The Veeder Farm will use its grant to install a 20-kilowatt wind turbine on the tree farm, a system designed to produce a 1,000 kilowatt surplus that the farm intends to sell back to the power grid, providing an additional revenue source.
      Ms. Gillibrand, a member of the House Agriculture Committee, said in a press release from her office that with the high cost of fuel, the funding "will allow these farms to not only lower their operational costs but also demonstrate the kind of innovation that new energy technologies can provide our local farms and small businesses."
      Next month Congresswoman Gillibrand will chair her 2008 Economic Summit concentrating development and energy. The event will bring together state agencies, business organizations, local business owners and community leaders to discuss ways to improve the upstate economy by encouraging the development of new energy technologies and businesses in the region.