Agricultural Development Fund Projects approved for funding at the January meeting include:

The Daviess County Conservation District was approved for $100,000 in Daviess County funds to implement an On-Farm Drainage Enhancement Program. This program will help producers improve crop yields to poorly drained soils by installing subsurface drainage systems.

Kentucky Shiitake Mushroom Growers Association (KSMGA) was approved for $1,000 in Jefferson County funds and $23,325 in KCADE funds for a feasibility study. KSMGA will assess the business feasibility and economic value of developing a facility or organizational component of the organization to manage and market Kentucky log grown, organic shiitake mushrooms to retailers and other developing outlets.

The Mammoth Cave Resource Conservation and Development Area, Inc. was approved for $20,000 in Logan County funds to provide a cost-share program to Logan County dark fired tobacco and horticulture producers for the purchase of shade cloth.

Pig Improvement Company (PIC) was approved for an $800,000 loan in state funds to construct a state of the art swine breeding facility in Allen County, to produce genetically superior boars for sale to PIC customers for artificial insemination and natural service breeding purposes. The loan will be forgiven based upon discounts and other incentives being provided to Kentucky pork producers with special emphasis on producers in the top sixty tobacco dependent counties of Kentucky.

S. S. Enterprises of Warren County Inc. was approved for $5,000 in Warren County funds and $84,811 in state funds to construct a small scale poultry processing plant that will custom process chickens, turkeys, squab, and other fowl under USDA inspection for Kentucky's small scale and independent poultry producers.

County Model Programs

County model programs are designed to provide farmers with cost-share funding to allow them to improve and diversify their current production practices. The Agricultural Diversification program is designed to assist in the transition into ten new areas of agriculture including dairy, aquaculture, and horticulture. The Fencing Improvement program improves net farm income through improved pasture quantity, quality and efficient use of fencing for livestock producers.

The Forage Improvement program improves pastures to allow for improved grazing by animals, reducing producer costs for feed, and improving feed quality. The Cattle Handling and Cattle Genetics programs allow for assistance to purchase equipment and animals to improve the health and profitability of cattle. The Goat Diversification program works to assist producers to venture into this relatively new area of agriculture in Kentucky. The Hay, Straw, & Commodity Storage program allows producers to increase the quality and marketability of products to improve the overall farm income. The On-Farm Water Enhancement program allows producers to adopt a proactive and systematic approach to expanding existing water supplies or to develop alternative water sources. The following is a list of county model programs that were approved for funding at this meeting.

County Agricultural Diversification Programs approved by the Board totaled $147,500 and included:

$50,000 Adair County
$42,000 Bourbon County
$37,500 Elliott County
$18,000 Larue County

County Fencing Improvement Programs approved by the Board totaled $203,850 and included:

$50,000 Adair County
$78,750 Bracken County
$25,100 Powell County
$50,000 Trigg County

County Forage Improvement Programs approved by the Board totaled $55,000 and included:

$40,000 Cumberland County
$15,000 Jefferson County

County Cattle Genetics Improvement Programs approved by the Board totaled $78,900 and included:

$26,500 Bourbon County
$40,000 Clinton County
$11,900 Cumberland County
$500 Jefferson County

County Goat Diversification Programs approved by the Board totaled $41,500 and included:

$16,500 Clay County
$25,000 Fayette County

County Cattle Handling Programs approved by the Board totaled $157,010.65 and included:

$126,000 Bourbon County
$3,010.65 Calloway County
$5,000 Jefferson County
$8,000 Johnson County
$15,000 Magoffin County

County Hay, Straw and Commodity Storage Programs approved by the Board totaled $422,977 and included:

$100,000 Adair County
$105,000 Bourbon County
$52,500 Bracken County
$15,000 Jefferson County
$50,477 LaRue County
$100,000 Pulaski County

County On-farm Water Program approved by the Board totaled $50,000 and included:

$50,000 Adair County

Agricultural Development Fund Background

Kentucky’s Legislature 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 approved over 1500 proposals committing over $158 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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