FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 18, 2002
Contact: Kara Keeton, Communications Director
Governor’s Office of Agricultural Policy
(502) 564-4627

The Kentucky Agricultural Development Board, chaired by Governor Paul Patton, approved $889,126.44 in 26 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.

County level projects that received board approval included:

$20,000 Breckinridge County FFA

received funding for the expansion of youth livestock and safety programs. Grant funds will be used for equipment to hold youth livestock programs in the county, and FFA will allow entities throughout the county to utilize the facilities for small ruminants, such as goats.

$4,000 Hickman County Agriculture Development Council

received funding for a contribution to the Purchase Area Aquaculture Cooperative. The funds will go toward the purchase of equipment and the marketing of product.

$1,750 Bracken County Agricultural Advancement Council, Inc.

received funding to purchase a cattle-working equipment trailer and to modify vegetable equipment to make it transportable. Both pieces of equipment will be made accessible to individuals throughout the county on a first come basis.

County model programs are designed to provide farmers with cost-share funding to allow them to improve and diversify their current production practices. 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, aquaculture, and horticulture. The following is a list of County model programs that were approved for funding at this meeting.

County Cattle Genetics Improvement Programs approved by the board totaled $186,974.44 and included:

County Forage Improvement Programs approved by the board totaled $89,320.75 and included:

County Cattle Handling Programs approved by the board totaled $329,433.75 and included:

Goat Diversification Programs approved by the board totaled $90,000.00 and included:

County Diversification Programs approved by the board totaled $167,647.50 and included:

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. Of this 50% allocation, 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. Since the inception of the program in January 2001, the Agricultural Development Board has reviewed over 1450 proposals and approved over 775 proposals committing over $97 million to an array of county, regional, and state projects designed to increase net farm income and create sustainable new farm-based business enterprises.

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