Published: August 27, 2008 03:42 pm            

WEDNESDAY: Leadership Niagara holding annual Agriculture Breakfast (3:42 p.m.)

Leadership Niagara will hold its annual Agriculture Breakfast at 7:30 a.m. Sept. 18, at the Farm and Home Center on Lake Avenue.

The meal will feature Niagara County foods and the cost is $15 per person. Jim Bittner, president of Singer Farms in Appleton, will be speaking on current agriculture conditions and challenges. Singer Farms is a 500 acre fruit farm, focusing on tree fruit. Bittner has been farming for almost 30 years, and in 1991, he formed a partnership with Tom Singer.

After graduating from Cornell University, Bittner worked with Frederick Atwater at Retawta Farms, an 80 cow dairy. In addition, he is the secretary and treasurer of the Western New York Cherry Producers.

Bittner has been very active in various agricultural organizations. He was Niagara County Farm Bureau president and president of the New York state Horticulture. Currently, he serves on the Farm Viability Institute Board, Cornell Geneva Experimental Station Advisory Board and the New York Food Processors Association Board. Bittner is also treasurer of the Cornell School of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

Among Bittner’s awards are the Business First “40 Under Forty” award, National Jaycees Outstanding Young Farmer and Cornell Agriculture School Outstanding Young Alumni. He’s testified for various federal and state commissions and spoken at numerous conferences on agricultural issues and commodities.

For more information or to make reservations for the breakfast, please call 778-7001.

Leadership Niagara is a community leader development program.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.