Horses and Bourbon are what this state is known for….and we certainly had the opportunity to learn about and experience both during our VALOR National trip to Kentucky! As someone who grew up in the equine industry, I never really learned much about the Horse Racing Industry. The farms that breed, raise and train these horses are exceptional entrepreneurs with an impressive business model. I was impressed with the organizational structure of these farms and how they stressed the importance of succession planning. And not only did the horse farms have an exceptional organizational structure, so did the large crop farms and small cattle farms we visited.
Succession planning is so important for all businesses, especially farms, but isn’t stressed nearly enough. I hope during my time in Grayson County I can encourage as many producers as possible to think about the future of their farm and making time to plan for the succession of their farm, whether it’s to a family member or not. Urban sprawl is becoming a serious problem in parts of Kentucky like Bowling Green and producers are making an effort to not only work with each other to keep land in agriculture, they are also very present with their county and town leaders. They understand that they need to speak up and work with all groups involved so that the farmland they do have isn’t lost forever.
The diversity of Kentucky Agriculture was impressive, and honestly reminded me of Virginia. Thousand plus acre crop farms, to small cattle farms to prestigious horse farms…each was vastly different, but one thing they had in common was the pride they took in their work. Even as we traveled home through the flood ravaged areas of Kentucky, there was no lack of pride in their home and community. Visiting the Homeplace Community Center where most of the facility was destroyed by the flood waters, including the director’s home, you could see the hope they had in the recovery process and how proud they were to have come so far.
Thank you to the Kentucky producers who hosted our VALOR group and to the leaders of the Kentucky Agriculture Leadership Program for taking the time to teach us about agriculture in the Bluegrass State!
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