My families appreciation and love for the state of Kentucky has recently been on the upswing in the past few months, all because of a few visits to their great state in May.
Having the opportunity to have our VALOR fellowship tour some of the best that Kentucky had to offer during our domestic trip this past May was a true blessing. It was an added bonus that my family, and a few friends, got to see the touristy side of the state a few weeks prior when we visited for the Kentucky Derby in early May. I continually compare and contrast the two very different visits – one visit exposing us to what your “average” individual would encounter when searching “What to do in Kentucky” on Google, and the other giving our VALOR fellowship the opportunity to become a bit more immersed in the agricultural industry of the state, and all that is influenced by it.
VALOR started our trip in Lexington, Kentucky by visiting Keeneland and getting to walk the grounds of one of the most well known and respected horse racing venue’s throughout history. My wife was extremely jealous as I sent her phots and videos of jockeys working out their horses for the morning as they were training for whatever race was upcoming in the near, or distant, future. Keeneland was breaking of the ice for what would become a complete equine focused day discussing the horse-racing industry and the effects it has on the Lexington community from stud farms, to nutrition companies, thanks to a visit to Hallway Feeds, and through race day. It was a real treat to see Gun Runner, from Three Chimneys Farm, up close and personal, which has one of the largest stud fees in the industry at this point in time. Talking with all of the individuals that blessed us with their time while visiting Lexington our entire group came away with the impression that horse racing drove Lexington business.
We ventured a little further south west during Wednesday of our trip to spend some time with Peterson Farms whose seize and scale of their agronomy operation left a lasting impression on all in attendance. I especially appreciated their openness to discuss their family transition plan as it pertains to day to day and management operations. They, no doubt, had many difficult conversations amongst many generations of family members to work out a transition plan for their farm that works the best for all involved – keeping the farm in family hands and viable for many more generations to come.
Our Wednesday afternoon consisted of a tour of Maker’s Mark Distillery, which allowed us to see both ends of the production and manufacturing spectrum of distilled spirits in two visits. After all of our VALOR fellows had the opportunity to visit one of the best distilleries in America we loaded up and make the trek to Hodgenville, Kentucky to visit with an alumnus of Kentucky’s version of VALOR, whose acronym is KALP – Kentucky Agriculture Leadership Program. Hinton’s Orchard, in Hodgenville was a treat to experience as the family-run operation opened their doors to us as if we were their own family and shared their joys, struggles, opportunities and hurdles that they’ve experienced growing their family orchard and farmers market to meet their communities needs.
The first to last day focused on some of the more traditional agricultural operations in Kentucky – which reminded me the most of our Virginia AG industry. What appeared to be one of the up and coming power couples of Bowling Green agriculture, Jake Hunt and his wife Dore Hunt, welcomed us into the two operations they play major parts in – just a few miles apart. Jake Hunt, who operations a row crop farm with his father, was very open to our group about his family farm and the future he sees as urban sprawl continues to expand the Bowling Green community. What Jake saw as an issue to the future of his family operation is a bit of a double edged sword on Dore’s mind as she manages the farm operation for Chaney’s Dairy Barn who markets their products direct to consumer through a farm market. In the roughly 2 hours our group was on the dairy operation there were an estimated 100 people that came through to do business at the market.
The final stop on Thursday ended up being my favorite visit of the entire trip. We wandered through the backroads of South Central Kentucky and ended up having a candid discussion on a first-generation beef producer’s porch. Mr. Fred Thomas had lived an entire successful career in another industry owning successful businesses with his family before deciding to buy his property in Adair County, Kentucky. He was completely open with us about his trials, tribulations, and successes on his operation as he learned on the fly what traits he wanted in his cattle and why, managing his rotational grazing plan, and all of the other topics and decisions multi-family farms pass down in between generations but Fred had to develop on his own through trial and error and resources from his local Extension office. Fred was an impressive individual who has accomplished a lot on his farm in the short time he’s built it from scratch, and his local ag community has taken notice as he sits as a board member of the Adair County Cattleman’s Association. I thoroughly enjoyed learning from Fred during our visit to his farm.
Before we took the LONGGGGG drive back to Virginia to finish out our domestic trip on Friday we visited Home Place Community Center in Hazard, Kentucky. This community was some of the hardest hit during the floods that devastated the Appalachian area of Kentucky during the prior year. I greatly appreciated this sobering opportunity to hear from several of the community members about the impacts that the flooding had during the storm events and after as the community still tries to rebuild. Much of the Appalachian community in Kentucky is forever changed because of these devastating natural disasters, which will put another hurdle in front of the residents of the area to live and thrive in the area their families have lived in for many generations.
Observing the network that the Kentucky Ag Leadership Program has across its state brought a sense of excitement and intrigue to my eye. Knowing that I have the pleasure to be a part of a similar group of alumni that expands with each graduating class, proudly representing and leading Virginia’s agriculture industry, is a humbling thought. There wasn’t a single stop that we made in Kentucky that we didn’t meet someone that was a KALP alumni and the camaraderie among all alumni was enviable. This family and community feel is a sense that I’m proud to do my part to continue in Virginia as VALOR fellows continue to lead Virginia agriculture.
It seemed like fate to me that the domestic trip for our VALOR fellowship was to the commonwealth of Kentucky. Much of Kentucky’s agricultural industry is a mirror image of Virginia’s. Our fellowship will take our next trip to Southwest Virginia in July, allowing us to continue to compare and contrast the lifestyles, operations, and niche markets in between the two parts of our respective states that are influenced by the Appalachian mountains.
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