and why is New York different than Wisconsin?

This is a photo I took a couple of weeks ago on Rt 79 in Chenango Forks, about a half mile from Rt 12. The RR corridor cannot be seen but is nearby -- the branch to Syracuse just lies across the river, and the branch to Norwich is about a half mile. The scene is so bucolic, why would it ever change?

Dairy farming is big in NY and Wisconsin and so are electric transmission lines.