Governor's Office of Agricultural Policy
$3,307,900 Approved for the Kentucky Department of Agriculture

Frankfort, KY. (August 21, 2006)-The Kentucky Agricultural Development Board approved the Kentucky Department of Agriculture for $3,307,900 in state funds to continue the marketing initiatives, which currently promotes the Kentucky Proud Program. This proposal was one of the thirty-four projects, totaling $5,365,059 approved at the August Agricultural Development Board Meeting.

The Kentucky Department of Agriculture will use these funds for retail point of purchase activities (POP); "Restaurant Rewards" programs and initiatives; a retail beef grading initiative; international marketing initiatives; Kentucky Proud cooperative advertising programs; and producer tradeshow promotion activities.  

This project is designed to brand into Kentucky consumers' minds the value of "buy local" when shopping for food and fiber products; to dramatically increase sales and market opportunities at retail and food service levels for Kentucky producers, ensuring a future for the next generation of farm families; to assist with business expansion for those looking to move from farmers’ markets to the next step of higher volume retail and food service; to increase the opportunities for Kentucky producers to be the sole source of products for nationally known companies, many already based here in the Commonwealth but sourcing out of state; to stimulate opportunities for producer access to government institutions as a potential market for their products; and to promote opportunities at the international level for interested producers.

The Kentucky Legislature continues to make great strides towards lessening Kentucky’s dependence on 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 approved over 2,629 proposals committing over $221 million to an array of county, regional, and state projects designed to increase net farm income and create sustainable new farm-based business enterprises. 

For more information on this project contact Michael Judge, Executive Director of the Office of Agricultural Marketing and Product Promotion at the Kentucky Department of Agriculture at (502) 564-4983. To learn more about cost-share grant and loan programs available though the Agricultural Development Fund contact the Governor’s Office of Agricultural Policy at (502) 564-4627.