August 19, 2002
Contact: John-Mark Hack, Governor’s Office of Agricultural Policy (502) 564-4627

$1,875,300 Invested in Kentucky Agricultural Diversification

The Kentucky Agricultural Development Board, chaired by Governor Paul Patton, approved $1,875,300 at its August business meeting for agricultural diversification projects across the Commonwealth. The board was established to oversee the Agricultural Development Fund that was created by the 2000 General Assembly using half of Kentucky’s tobacco settlement revenues.

In its meeting, the board approved 26 total projects.

State level programs that received board approval included:

$950,000 Funds for the Little Kentucky Smokehouse LLC

to build a meat processing plant for ham and other value-added pork products with an annual capacity of 10-12 million pounds. The plant, located near Morganfield, would produce a source verified, quality controlled, vacuum bagged, pasteurized, labeled, and bar coded product that would meet standards for national and international trade. Initially, the animals would be purchased from the Central Kentucky Hog Marketing Association and producers would earn a premium for providing hormone and antibiotic-free hogs. The meat produced will be marketed as a Kentucky branded product. The Agricultural Development Board identified marketing as the number one priority and this project works toward that goal.

County level programs that received board approval included:

$38,000 Lincoln County

The Lincoln County High School will construct a greenhouse to enable present and future farmers to learn new and innovative techniques for commercial horticulture production.

$32,350 Grayson County

Otis Bryant & Sons, Inc. will purchase soybean roasting equipment. The equipment will enable the feed mill to process locally-grown soybeans and grains into high-energy animal feeds.

$5,000 Menifee County

The East Kentucky Beef Cattle Council will contribute funds for Menifee County to join the Heifer Development Project in Perry County, a project that provides small farmers the opportunity to improve their cattle herds.

Also funded were county cost-share programs, developed to address the identified need for funds in specified areas. The cattle handling and cattle genetics programs allow for assistance to purchase equipment and animals to improve the health and profitability of cattle. The forage program improves pastures to allow for improved grazing by animals, reducing producer costs for feed, and improving feed quality. The goat diversification program works to assist producers to venture into this relatively new area of agriculture in Kentucky. And the diversification program is designed to assist in the transition into ten new areas of agriculture including dairy and aquaculture.

County Cattle Genetics Improvement Programs approved by the board totaled $84,961 and included:

County Forage Improvement Programs approved by the board totaled $100,711 and included:

County Cattle Handling Programs approved by the board totaled $265,128 and included:

Goat Diversification Programs approved by the board totaled $96,500 and included:

County Diversification Programs approved by the board totaled $302,650 and included:

65% of the Fund is set aside for regional and statewide agricultural projects, while 35% is earmarked for individual counties on the basis of their tobacco dependence. The board had previously voted to utilize state monies to establish the Kentucky Center for Agricultural Development and Entrepreneurship and to use the proceeds of a $25 million Rural Development Bond Fund for farmland protection programs across the state. In January, over $37 million was distributed directly to tobacco quota owners and growers to supplement the cash payments they receive from a separate Tobacco Settlement Trust Fund. The Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Cabinet’s Division of Conservation received $18 million to provide direct cost-share assistance to agricultural producers seeking to come into compliance with state water quality laws.

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