FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 13, 2002
Contact: Kara Keeton, Communications Director
Governor’s Office of Agricultural Policy
(502) 564-4627

Kentucky’s Agricultural Diversification Program hailed as national model

The Governor’s Office of Agricultural Policy and the National Governor’s Association (NGA) Center for Best Practices co-sponsored a policy forum for the top ten tobacco-growing states last week in Louisville. The forum focused on how state governments have invested their Master Settlement Funds toward agricultural diversification and development, and tobacco prevention and cessation. An official with the NGA noted that Kentucky’s innovative investment, of both human and financial capital, is leading the way in agricultural diversification on a national level.

“What Kentucky is doing is the right focus on re-energizing the entrepreneurial spirit in the tobacco community,” stated Phil Psilos, the NGA Director of Economic and Technology Policy Studies. “I can’t overstate how important this is. This is a national model that combines top-down strategic coordination and bottom-up planning.”

Kentucky has made a historic effort to diversify away from tobacco production while revitalizing the farm economy by investing 50% of Kentucky’s Master Settlement Agreement into the Kentucky Agricultural Development Fund. Since the inception of the program in January 2001, the Agricultural Development Board has reviewed over 1400 proposals and approved over 750 proposals committing over $96 million to an array of county, regional, and state projects designed to increase net farm income and create sustainable new farm-based business enterprises. These projects fall in an array of investment areas including development of a value-added processing infrastructure, technical assistance programs, market and feasibility studies, and on-farm financial assistance.

“Through investments with the Agricultural Development Fund, we have made notable progress in the past year in reducing dependency on tobacco. Our commitment though must be sustained,” said John-Mark Hack, CEO of the Agricultural Development Fund and Executive Director of the Governor’s Office of Agricultural Policy. “There is still much work to be done to ensure a sustainable rural economy for future generations. We have embarked on a long-term project that demands the continued commitment of future Governors, our General Assembly, and the citizens of the Commonwealth.”

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