After all my travels cross-country and around the world, I found myself in our neighboring state the Commonwealth of Kentucky for the first time. A welcome treat visiting our neighboring state and the highlights of what the Old Bluegrass State has to offer.
As my cohorts have shared, during our whirlwind trip we had many great experiences:
Day 1: Horse-Country centered around Lexington with Keenland, Hallway Feeds, and Three Chimneys
Day 2: Bourbon-Country centered around the farmers and distillers that support Kentucky’s whiskey industry, we were privileged to experience Peterson Farms (exclusive grower for Makers Mark), Makers Mark Distillery, and on the way to Bowling Green (for Day 3), we stopped at Hinton’s Orchard.
Day 3: our day in West Kentucky started in Bowling Green at Hunt Farm a commercial grain operation, and then onto Chaney’s Dairy Barn (where we had lunch, and were treated to some of the BEST chocolate milk I’ve ever had)…after wrapping up lunch, we headed east to meet-up with Mr. Fred Thomas who late in life (retirement?) decided to move to rural Kentucky and start a intensively managed regenerative and rotational beef cattle operation.
Day 4: a trip to East Kentucky brought us to the community of Hazard, and the Home Place Community Center.
One thing that resonated with me from each of the very diverse aspects of agriculture was the sense of SERVICE. In each aspect from breeding prize winning horses to the operation of a local community center, the commitment to serving the needs of others was something often spoke about. This frequent tone serves as a reminder that often finding a niche is not often enough, if the end user does not value the commitment of service the operator applies.
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