Farm bureau discusses data centers, legislative priorities
BRADY TWP — Butler County Farm Bureau members and elected officials discussed pending legislation impacting eminent domain, milk and other issues at the annual legislative tour.
Friday’s tour was held at the Moraine Conservation and Sportsmen’s Association. It was followed by a presentation about honey and bees by the Central Western Pennsylvania Beekeepers Association.
William Thiele, a director on the state Farm Bureau board, said the bureau supports state Senate Bill 225. The bill would amend the eminent domain law when it pertains to farmers. He said the bill is important due to the proposed use of eminent domain to obtain farmland for the development of data centers in some areas.
While it is not currently an issue in Butler County, he said it could become one. He said it is “preposterous” to obtain farmland preserved by conservation easements through eminent domain.
Bill Duncan, a farm bureau member and a member of the Butler County Agricultural Land Preservation Board, said PPL Electrical Utilities is trying to use eminent domain to run a high-tension power line through five farms in Luzerne County to serve a proposed data center, not for public use.
One of the farmers uses drones for seeding and spraying. However, he won’t be allowed to fly his drones within 150 feet of the proposed power line, he said.
“Now you’ve cut a swath 100 yards wide through the center of his field where he can’t use his drones anymore,” Duncan said.
When proposing those types of power lines, utilities seek the shortest routes instead of installing the lines along roads, he said.
He called for a law to protect preserved farms from eminent domain or require all utilities to install service lines underground beneath farms or along roads.
“Anything we can do to protect protected farms would be great,” Duncan said.
Senate Bill 225, cosponsored by Sen. Scott Hutchinson, R-21st, does not go as far as what Duncan suggested, but addresses compensation for loss of goodwill, or the loss of a land’s intangible and tangible value.
James Thiele, county farm bureau president, called for support of state Senate Bill 1362. It would allow the use of bulk dispensers for milk in schools and create a dedicated account in the Department of Agriculture budget to fund the program.
“It just makes common sense,” said Hutchinson, who also cosponsored that bill.
He said milk is less expensive when purchased in bulk and a pilot program is ongoing in several schools.
Turning to federal legislation, William Thiele said the bureau is urging timely passage of the federal Farm Bill. However, timely passage is unlikely. He said farmers support the year-round use of E15 gasoline, which contains 15% ethanol. Corn is used in the production of ethanol.
In addition, he said U.S. Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-15th, Republican leader of the House Agriculture Committee, has introduced bills aimed at reforming agricultural labor regulations and providing students with additional access to healthy meals.
H.R. 9535, the Securing Agriculture’s Workforce Act of 2026, which Thompson introduced in July, would overhaul the H‑2A temporary agricultural worker program to better meet modern agricultural labor needs. It expands eligibility, streamlines administration, stabilizes wages and strengthens worker protections.
The Local Foods for Healthy Schools Act, which Thompson introduced in June with Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet, a Michigan Democrat, would provide $200 million a year to help schools buy fresh, locally grown foods to give students access to healthier meals while supporting local farmers and economies.
Butler County Commissioner Kim Geyer discussed agricultural land preservation efforts and the Agriculture Conservation Assistance Program (ACAP) operated by the Butler County Conservation District.
The county has preserved 82 farms representing 8,365 acres of agricultural land. Four to five more farms are going through the preservation process, Geyer said. Over the last 11 years, over 30 farms have been preserved. There were 50 preserved farms when she took office in 2016. She said farmers can apply for ACAP funding the district receives from the state to improve best practices on their farms.
Hutchinson said projects funded through the program are subject to the state’s prevailing wage law. Prevailing wage makes the projects expensive and can reduce the scope of the project, he said.
“It’s a problem. We need more to do less,” Hutchinson said.
The project cost threshold that triggers prevailing wages is $25,000, an amount set in 1961, he said.
“There should be some major adjustments there,” Hutchinson said, adding he thinks the threshold should be increased.
Geyer said an effort in the legislature to increase the threshold to $250,000 was met with a lot of resistance.
She said she believes Senate Bill 908, which was introduced this year to expand prevailing wages to local shops that fabricate products or equipment off-site for construction projects, is aimed at data center construction.
The bill could backfire, she said, because entities could hire shops in states that don’t have a prevailing wage law.
