Agriculture in Kentucky is undergoing a period of transformation, one marked by changing markets, new products, shifting consumer demand, and technological developments. Tobacco played the major role in Kentucky agriculture for decades. Over the years, this has changed dramatically. The chart below shows the sharp decrease in tobacco production from 1997 to 2012. The 497,856,262 pounds of tobacco produced in 1997 was done on 46,850 farms. Just 15 years later in 2012, the number of pounds decreased by 63% to 183,904,938 pounds; the number of tobacco-producing farms decreased by 90% to 4,537 (United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), National Agricultural Statistics Service. 2012 Census of Agriculture. Kentucky. May 2014).
Agriculture Production
Despite this dramatic shift from 1997 to 2012, the Commonwealth’s agriculture sector is adapting and succeeding, as evidenced by a 60% increase in market value of agricultural products sold during the same period to over $5 billion (USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service. 2012 Census of Agriculture. Kentucky. May 2014). This is largely due to diversification efforts. Examples of these recent efforts include the following:
- Kentucky’s top 5 agriculture commodities are: 1) broilers, 2) corn, 3) horses, 4) soybeans, and 5) cattle and calves (USDA, Economic Research Service. 2012).
- Kentucky ranks 8th in the nation for the number of broilers and other meat-type chickens (USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Services. 2012 Census of Agriculture. United States. May 2014).
- Kentucky also ranks 8th in the country in inventory of beef cows. The state has more beef cows than any state east of the Mississippi River (USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service. 2014).
- Kentucky ranks 1st in owned horses and ponies sold (USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service. 2012 Census of Agriculture. United States. May 2014).
General Facts
- Number of farms: 77,064
- Average farm size: 169 acres
- Most Kentucky farms (40%) are 50-179 acres in size.
- Average age of principal farm operator: 57.6 years
Source: USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Services. 2012 Census of Agriculture. Kentucky. May 2014.
Economic Impact
- Production agriculture in the state has a direct, indirect, and induced impact of $8.4 billion; total employment for this category is 119,525.
- Total impact for agriculture production and manufacturing in the state is $46.2 billion; total employment for this category is 263,301.
Source: University of Kentucky—College of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service. “Economic and Policy Update.” June 26, 2013. Vol. 13, No. 6.