By: Ag. Reporter Mollie Goode
In late July the Kentucky Department of Agriculture held an ‘Agriculture Is Economic Development’ Regional Meeting. The meeting was held at Murray State University and directed by Agriculture Commissioner Jonthan Shell.
The main take away from the meeting is the vital role agriculture plays to economic growth. The agriculture industry has the ability to directly impact everyone in the county.
Christian County Representative Myron Dossett said, “Farmers built Kentucky and continue to add so much to our community. Farming provides locals access to fresh produce and animal products and provides an economic boost to its community.”
When looking at the 2022 Census of Agriculture, Christian County presents driving growth for Kentucky, making the county very competitive in crop growth, tobacco cultivation, and ranking fifth in the state for the total market value of agricultural products sold.
Rep. Dossett added, “Agriculture has tens of billions of dollars of economic impact on our state each year and provides hundreds of thousands of jobs for community members. We must support our farmers and continue to find ways to expand agricultural opportunities to support the growth of local economies.”
Local agriculture is here to help out, this is just one of many meetings to come for the state of Kentucky. The next meeting will be held on September 9th in Morehead and with each meeting the main goal is to spark new ideas for local agriculture and prompt Kentucky agriculture as a whole.