kentucky

One of our biggest opportunities to increase employment and income in rural America is to enhance the sustainability of beginning farmers.  Many farmers are retiring, and coupled with a renewed interest in local foods is causing an increased demand on small and medium-sized farmers. Nearly 25 percent of U.S. farmers are 65 years and older.  The average age of the farm operator is 57 years.  I have noticed a shift is occurring with an increase in the number of new farm operations with many Americans interested in becoming beginning farmers and ranchers.  However, these farmers face unique challenges, including rising cost of farm land, lack of knowledge about accessing farm land and the capital to buy the land, lack of training in sustainable farming practices, a lack of operating capital in their initial years, and many need experiential learning to be successful.

Cross posted from the FSA blog.

The senior citizen’s centers in seven Kentucky counties are benefitting from fresh produce grown as part of the West Liberty Service Center People’s Garden.

The kids of eastern Kentucky have been getting a mega dose of food safety awareness this month. The USDA Food Safety Discovery Zone, a 40-foot long interactive exhibit on wheels, has been traveling throughout Rowan and Fayette Counties, teaching kids from seven schools how to keep them safe from foodborne illness. Additionally, the Food Safety Discovery Zone stopped at the Midway Fall Festival in Midway, Kentucky for an extra opportunity to blend education with fun while increasing food safety awareness.

USDA Administrator of Business and Cooperative Programs Judy Canales got a taste of true southern hospitality when she visited Kentucky recently. Canales was able to experience the products of local artisans and agriculture producers that were on display in new Bath County Agricultural Education and Marketing Center in Owingsville.

By Katherine Belcher USDA Kentucky Public Information Coordinator

When the Agriculture Department issued a challenge for its employees to establish People’s Gardens at USDA facilities around the world, the staff of the Service Center in West Liberty, Ky., wasted no time in putting one together.

Written by Katherine Belcher, Kentucky USDA Public Information Coordinator

As USDA kicked off National Home Ownership Month, more than 115 volunteers from 25 churches across the state of Kentucky gathered in a vacant lot in Whitley City to build a house for a woman many of them have never met. They are camping near the construction site, working long days to see that the project is completed by the home’s dedication date of June 19.

A new People’s Garden was planted in west/central Kentucky this past Memorial Day weekend.  The garden is located on the greenhouse business property of Meredith Agriculture in Elizabethtown, Kentucky.  This new People’s Garden is a project of Meredith Agriculture and Central Hardin High School FFA.  The garden is managed by a CHHS graduate member, Alex Meredith, and his father Steve.  Several FFA members, parents, and siblings of FFA members gathered to plant a 4,500 square foot garden of tomatoes, sweet corn, potatoes, squash, lima beans, and watermelons.  The produce will be donated to several local agencies that help the needy.

By Katherine Belcher, USDA Rural Development Public Information Coordinator

When Lela Bunch talks about the prospect of building a new home so she and her children can have a place of their own and more living space, you can hear the excitement in her voice.

Between deciding what trees to plant and selecting new furnishings and appliances, it is clear how much the prospect of owning a home means to her.

And it should, it’s been a long time coming.

Despite unexpected snowfall and cold temperatures, more than 50 people participated in a forum on jobs creation in Kentucky on the campus of Eastern Kentucky University on Tuesday.