It used to be that the biggest worries for Kentucky farmers were the weather and crop prices. Now they often find themselves navigating a landscape of global trade negotiations, immigration policies, and federal entitlement cuts.
Despite the new challenges, agriculture remains a significant industry, contributing $8 billion to the state’s economy according to the 2022 Census of Agriculture. While 12 million acres are in production, Kentucky lost more than 6,500 farms between 2017 and 2022. Some of those losses can be attributed to older farmers retiring, and some to the economics of farming.
Economic factors include the trade policies of President Donald Trump and his on-again, off-again application of tariffs on foreign goods. That’s left farmers paying higher prices for equipment and fertilizers they need, seeing reduced access to some foreign markets, and enduring retaliatory tariffs on their grains, meats, and other products exported to other countries.
State Rep. Chad Aull (D-Lexington) says Trump’s tariffs are bad for Kentucky farmers and families as well as the state’s economy, which relies on imports for nearly a third of its gross domestic product.
“This is a lose, lose, lose situation,” says Aull, who is a member of the House Agriculture Committee. “What we need is stable leadership to actually step back and think how are these tariffs going to affect not only these people but our economy for generations to come in Kentucky.”
State Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Jason Howell, a Murray Republican, says trade wars are never good for Kentucky agriculture but he contends farmers are adaptable to whatever changes come their way. He also says there could be some benefits to the Trump administration’s trade strategy.
“It could open some additional markets,” says Howell. “Part of the negotiations could remove some of the barriers for, like, GMO products and that sort of thing that our producers have been doing.”
The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture paid more than $14 billion to American farmers during Trump’s first term in office after their commodities were adversely impacted by his economic policies during those years. With more trade disruptions underway now, Howell argues it’s premature to consider state or federal relief payments for farmers until the current negotiations are completed. Aull says such handouts to farmers wouldn’t be necessary if Trump would simply stop levying tariffs.
Some farmers as well as those in the state’s equine industry are also worried about access to immigrant labor under the Trump administration’s deportation policies. Aull says immigrants who commit crimes should be punished, but he argues that the vast majority of migrants don’t have criminal records and are here legally. He says some immigrants, even those with proper documentation, are reluctant to go to work, fearing they could be detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Howell says he’s not heard any concerns about access to migrant labor in western Kentucky and that he believes the H2A visa program for foreign agricultural workers will remain in place.
Both lawmakers are watching efforts by U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell to close a loophole in the 2018 farm bill that allows hemp-derived products like gummies and beverages to contain low levels of the psychoactive compound THC. Opponents of the measure say it could stifle Kentucky’s burgeoning hemp industry. Howell says McConnell’s bill, if approved, wouldn’t take effect for a year.
“One of the best parts of Sen McConnell’s bill is it identifies the issues that he wants to address and then gives time for all the parties to come to (the) table and work through the particulars,” says Howell
Howell says the General Assembly is trying to help the state’s farmers with a $5 million economic development fund to support projects that could produce more value-added end products from Kentucky’s agricultural commodities. He says lawmakers have also expanded tax credits to help beginning farmers purchase land and to incentivize older farmers to sell their land to younger producers.
Aull says the tax credits are good, but not enough to help someone buy enough acreage to operate a financially viable farm. He says the General Assembly could do more to help place locally grown produce into schools, restaurants, and other businesses. He also says the recent One Big Beautiful Bill Act will hurt farmers through cuts to SNAP benefits to low-income individuals, who use the federal entitlement to purchase produce, meats, and dairy products.
“The SNAP cuts are going to be devastating on local communities, local farmers, the local grocers,” says Aull. “We’re talking about a $1.3 billion impact in the state of Kentucky.”
Nonprofits Connect Kentucky Growers and Eaters
Supporting the state’s farmers and encouraging people to consume more fresh, locally grown meats, fruits, and vegetables is at the heart of the work of two Kentucky-based nonprofit organizations, the Community Farm Alliance and FoodChain.
Since 1985 CFA has advocated for what it calls family-scale agriculture on smaller, economically and environmentally sustainable farms. It also works to connect rural growers with urban consumers, such as the Fresh RX for Moms, which Barnes says provides locally grown fruits and vegetables to pregnant women to support their health and that of their babies. She says CFA also operates a farm-to-school program that educates students about where their food comes from and lets them sample fresh, locally grown produce.
“When you ask a question like where does your food come from, a lot of students might say DoorDash,” Barnes says. “So (we’re) giving them the exposure to know that this product that you’re sampling today was actually grown on a farm in Kentucky.”
FoodChain started in 2011 with a small aquaponics farm in Lexington and has grown into a food literacy operation that includes education programs as well as its own kitchen that produces free meals for youth from meats and produce supplied by farmers in more than 50 Kentucky counties.
“We’re providing meals that are not just nourishing and fresh, but are also putting dollars directly in the hands of Kentucky farmers,” says Leandra Forman, co-executive director of FoodChain.
Too many Kentuckians rely on mass-produced, heavily-processed convenience foods, according to Forman, because that’s what they grew up eating or processed foods are all that’s available to them at their neighborhood store. She says FoodChain programs strive to inspire curiosity and joy about what food can be and how fresh, minimally processed foods can make individuals stronger and healthier.
“We’re building people who see the value of eating that fresh, local food because we’re making it available to them at their level,” says Forman. “We really think about that as a long-term investment in Kentucky agriculture.”
Both organizations endorse policies that support small farm operations and programs that encourage young people to pursue farming as a career. They also want consumers to place more value on products from farmers in their own communities rather than distant, industrial-sized farms.
“Why not build a future for Kentucky, in Kentucky, by Kentucky and support our local communities?” says Barnes. “You don’t have to have a big farming industry to make an impact to Kentucky.”
