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Short Rows
Yates is new state agritourism director
KAN staff report
A Louisville man with an extensive background in sales and marketing is Kentucky’s new agritourism director, Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer has announced.
Stephen P. Yates will start May 16 after five years with the Governor’s Office of Agricultural Policy.
“Agritourism is growing rapidly as farmers look for new ways to make money on the farm and tourists look for destinations close to home,” Commissioner Farmer said. “I am pleased to have Stephen Yates on board to serve this important new industry.”
As a project analyst with GOAP, Yates helped the Kentucky Department of Agriculture secure funding for a statewide agritourism coordinator and a feasibility study that assessed the agritourism industry in Kentucky. Yates secured more than $2 million in funding for 22 agritourism projects. He also secured funding for other projects, reviewed grant applications and presented them to the Kentucky Agricultural Development Board for a 29-county area in central Kentucky.
The board administers agriculture’s share of Kentucky’s Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement funds. GOAP is the administrative arm of the board. The board has awarded $236 million in grants for agricultural diversification projects since it was created in 2000.
Yates previously worked for American Red Cross Blood Services, Presentation Solutions of Louisville, United Parcel Service in Louisville, The Commuter Pool of Louisville, and General Electric Appliances.
The state agritourism office is a joint operation of the KDA and the Kentucky Department of Tourism. The director assists Kentucky agritourism business with marketing, business concerns and other issues. The office and the state Agritourism Advisory Council were established by legislation passed in the 2002 General Assembly.
Kentucky has some 200 agritourism destinations. Many of them are listed on the Kentucky Department of Tourism’s Web site. Go to www.kentuckytourism.com/interestfinder.htm, click on the Interest Finder, and click on Agritourism.
Governor's Scholars honored
Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer and the Kentucky Department of Agriculture honored 29 students with scholarships at the annual Agribusiness/Governor's Scholars Program Awards Luncheon in Frankfort in May. Pictured are, from left: Chlodys Johnstone, Martin Dunning, Rachel Ryan, Marc Ettensohn, Christopher Bellis-Jones, Kirby O'Donoghue, John Hendricks, Celeste Laurent, Caroline Peterson, John Martin, Commissioner Farmer, Austin Jacobs, Sheila Wilson, Sara Holliday, John McMaine, Lauren McCord, Brittany Wilkinson and Aris Cedeno, executive director and academic chairman of the Governor's Scholars Program. (Chris Aldridge photo) |
Deadline for tax benefits approaching
KAN staff report
Kentucky landowners have a limited time to get expanded federal tax benefits for donating conservation easements on their property, Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer said.
“These incentives are scheduled to expire at the end of the year,” Commissioner Farmer said. “They enable Kentucky’s many family farmers and moderate-income landowners to conserve the land they love while obtaining a significant tax benefit for making the charitable donation of a conservation easement.”
Landowners who have donated a conservation easement in 2006 or 2007 may take advantage of the incentives. Federal legislation was passed and signed into law last August that:
- Raised the maximum tax deduction a landowner can take for donating an easement from 30 percent of adjusted gross income to 50 percent;
- Allowed qualifying full-time farmers and ranchers to deduct up to 100 percent of their adjusted gross income from their federal taxes; and
- Extended the carry-forward period for a donor to take tax deductions for a voluntary conservation agreement from five to 15 years.
Efforts are under way in Congress to make these changes a permanent part of the tax code. President Bush has also endorsed making the current tax credits permanent in his 2008 budget.
The Purchase of Agriculture Conservation Easements (PACE) Program accepts donations of conservation easements. These easements assure that land that currently is in agricultural use will remain available for agriculture and will not be converted to other uses. PACE is administered by the Kentucky Department of Agriculture.
The PACE program has purchased agricultural conservation easements on 88 farms totaling 20,927 acres. Another 32 easements totaling 4,219 acres have been donated to the program.
For more information on the PACE program, contact Brent Frazier by phone at (502) 564-4696 or by e-mail at brent.frazier@ky.gov.
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