FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
May 7, 2002
Contact: John-Mark Hack or Penny Cline (502)564-4627

State Agricultural Development Board Delivers $55,000 for the Anderson County Farmers Market

LAWRENCEBURG - The Kentucky Agricultural Development Board, chaired by Governor Paul Patton, delivered a check last Thursday in the amount of $55,000 in support of the Anderson County Farmers Market. Judge Anthony Stratton and the Anderson County Fiscal Court submitted a proposal for the Farmers Market to the Anderson County Agricultural Development Council to provide area farmers a facility to market their locally grown products.

The project provides a market for products grown in Anderson and surrounding counties. John-Mark Hack, CEO of the Kentucky Agricultural Development Fund in the Governor's Office, added "Providing markets for farmers was identified as the number one priority in Kentucky's Long-Term Plan for Agricultural Development, and this type of facility at this location is a perfect model for other local groups to follow."

The market is in the old Louisville Southern Depot located on HWY 127. This location ensures a highly visible market with a tremendous amount of traffic volume.

"The farmers' markets of Kentucky serve as important links between consumers and the producers who grow their food," Agriculture Commissioner Billy Ray Smith said. "The Anderson County Farmers' Market does an excellent job from an outstanding location (off U.S. 127 near the Anderson-Franklin county line). I'm told that nearly 15,000 cars each day are exposed to the market along this highway, many stopping to sample its products and meet the growers."

The money supporting this project is part of the Agricultural Development Fund created by Governor Patton and the Kentucky General Assembly using half of Kentucky's tobacco settlement proceeds. The Fund represents the largest state-financed agricultural development effort in the United States, and is intended to assist farmers to diversify their operations to meet the challenges faced as the tobacco industry changes and tobacco revenues decline.