Business spotlight
Five Mile Farm – Lisbon, NY
Agriculture is a significant contributor to St. Lawrence County’s economy. To enable more opportunity for business expansion, the IDA connected Five Mile Farm to resources that helped finance new technology that will allow even greater potential for growth.
Five Mile Farm has been in the Akins family since the mid-1800s. Today, the fifth, sixth and seventh generations work together on the farm with an eye to future generations as well. All new efforts on the farm, explains Mark Akins, have at least a 30-year outlook.
We ask ourselves, are we doing this for immediate satisfaction, or are we building this for the future? Everything we do has to be sustainable.
Mark Akins, Owner
For Future Generations
Five Mile Farm is a family partnership that has been operating in St. Lawrence County for over 35 years and seven generations. To be successful in the agricultural business, the Akins family believes in consistently refining their approach. As Mark’s son and business partner Ryan explains, “Sustainable management practices to me are not about what will necessarily make us money this year, but about how we’ll make a living on this farm every year for the next several generations.” Additionally, Five Mile Farm continues to update their facility and equipment and just added a 50 cow rotary parlor to improve the efficiency of the operation.
Sweet Memories
Looking forward also means appreciating the past. The family’s maple operation started back in the early 1920s and a wall of the sugarhouse bears the first date of the boil and gallon yield for every year since. Approximately 1,000 taps are set and an old-school, wood-fired evaporator boils the tree sap down into syrup.
“Some of the many advantages of St. Lawrence County is the resource of land and the infrastructure. The buildings and equipment can pretty much be interchangeable throughout the world. You can produce and process anywhere, but you cannot change the infrastructure or the land resources”, says Mark.
Why Choose St. Lawrence County?
“St. Lawrence County has a wealth of business resources like the St. Lawrence County IDA and the Dairy Business Infrastructure. We have a strong tradition of dairy cows in St. Lawrence County and it has been a great place to raise a family.” Said Mark Akins, Owner.
Next Business Spotlight
Potsdam Specialty Paper Inc
“I think St. Lawrence County is a great place to have a family and still have a business. At Potsdam Specialty Paper we are viewed as a family.”
Kristen Basford, Environmental Quality and Security Manager for Potsdam Specialty Paper
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