agriculture
State ag officials push for on-time farm bill to fund slew of programs
WASHINGTON – State agriculture officials from across the country sought this month to remind a new crop of lawmakers in Congress of their states’ needs for a robust farm bill to address a host of food issues. Members of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture gathered in Washington for their annual winter meeting […]
Kentucky small farm wineries seek to self-distribute more product
FRANKFORT — Kentucky’s small farm wineries are asking lawmakers to let them sell up to 30,000 gallons of wine annually to licensed retailers, but the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of Kentucky says that’s too much. Charles George, executive director of the wholesalers group, told a legislative committee that the wholesalers would support direct sales to […]
USDA projects farm income will fall in 2023 after two robust years
WASHINGTON — After two strong years of growth, U.S. farm income is forecast to drop substantially in 2023 as commodity prices fall and expenses rise, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service reported Tuesday. And with food prices projected to rise into 2023, the nation’s producers will not be reaping the financial benefits. The […]
Kentucky agriculture group named to address large animal vet shortage
Kentucky Commissioner of Agriculture Ryan Quarles has named a working group of agriculture industry stakeholders to search for “solutions to the state’s large animal vet shortage,” the Agriculture Department said Friday. A shortage of large animal veterinarians across the country has created “a negative impact as farmers search to find the veterinary care they need […]
Danville farm will expand beef marketing with USDA value-added grant
In an ongoing effort to diversify the country’s meat processing and create new markets for smaller livestock producers, the federal government is distributing about $3.9 million of grant money and guaranteeing loans that total $5.7 million for more than two dozen projects in 15 states, including Kentucky. Danville farmer Dennis Spencer Guinn was awarded a […]
In West Tennessee, Black farmers take on Tyson Foods
This article was first published by the Tennessee Lookout. Brenda Scott’s father came to west Tennessee as a sharecropper. By 1971 — as a result of hard work and government loans — he had 129 acres of his own, some of which his descendants occupy today. His adult children and grandchildren belong to an enclave […]
Happy cows, good food, more profits for farmers
NEW CASTLE — For more than a century Henry County relied on tobacco to keep its farmers and its economy going. For most of the second half of the 20th century a federal program stabilized the price of tobacco, guaranteeing those farmers a steady, predictable income. That all changed in the new century after Congress ended tobacco […]