Kentucky’s farms are an important part of our heritage. But they are also a major part of our future.

Research is underway that will forever change the way we and our children will live. Much of this research utilizes the products produced through the hard work of Kentucky’s thousands of farm families and the blessings of our Commonwealth’s soil, water and sunlight. Researchers are taking those raw materials and turning them into the energy of the future.

For example, one day soon your car may be powered by a blend of ethanol or biodiesel. There’s a good chance the corn or soybeans used to make that fuel will have been grown right here in Kentucky. Kentucky is joining the ranks of the national leaders in production of

biofuels. An ethanol plant in Hopkinsville made money in its first year of operation and has already expanded.  A large biodiesel production plant in Owensboro is slated for completion in mid-2007. Other plants are in operation or on the drawing board.

Biofuels are getting another look from growers, businesses, the auto industry and consumers. Gas prices have approached $3 per gallon several times over the past few years , and that has made ethanol and biodiesel blends competitive with conventional petroleum fuel. Instability in some of the largest oil producing regions of the world has contributed to the high price of gas. Americans want stable domestic sources of energy. We can’t possibly grow enough corn and soybeans to replace all the fuel we import, but we can replace some of it, and that’s good insurance for potential disruptions in the foreign oil supply.

Biofuels are good for the environment.  Ethanol reduces tailpipe carbon monoxide emissions by as much as 30 percent. The federal government says 100 percent biodiesel reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 75 percent compared with petroleum diesel. Scientists are virtually unanimous in their conclusion that global warming is real and that human activity is at least partly to blame. You can’t look at pictures of disappearing glaciers and ice formations around the world and not be alarmed. As a potential solution to global warming, biofuels are a small piece of a big puzzle, but they are an important piece.

Finally, biofuels are good for farmers. The 3,000 farmer-owners of Commonwealth Agri-

Energy, the Hopkinsville ethanol plant, are reaping the benefits of that facility’s early success. Ohio County soybean grower Darren Luttrell pointed out that ethanol and biodiesel production provides stability for grain crop markets that are subject to peaks and valleys in price.

Millions of dollars in tobacco settlement money have been invested into making the Hopkinsville and Owensboro plants possible. As agriculture commissioner, I serve as chairman of the Kentucky Agricultural Finance Corp. and vice chairman of the Kentucky Agricultural Development Board. I support strategic investments into biofuels, marketing, beef cattle and other areas that have the potential to benefit large numbers of Kentucky farmers and make Kentucky agriculture profitable for years to come. In May, I had the pleasure of joining other Kentucky leaders in presenting checks for $5 million from the Kentucky Agricultural Finance Corp. and $1,151,250 from the Kentucky Agricultural Development Board to go toward construction of the Owensboro Grain biodiesel plant. The board awarded $6.5 million in grant money and $3.2 million in loans to Commonwealth Agri-Energy for construction of its ethanol plant.

The Agricultural Development Board has also invested millions of dollars into Kentucky’s beef cattle industry and into marketing Kentucky’s fine agricultural products. The cattle funding has helped Kentucky producers improve their herds, adopt better management practices, increase the value of their forages and otherwise upgrade the Commonwealth’s beef cattle industry, the country’s largest east of the Mississippi River.  The marketing investments have enabled the Kentucky Department of Agriculture and its partner, Allied Food Marketers of Louisville, to get Kentucky Proud farm products into a growing number of stores and restaurants. More and more, consumers are looking for the Kentucky Proud logo to find products made right here at home and made of the highest quality. 

Many of the Agricultural Development Board’s investments – a total of $187 million by the end of 2005 – have contributed to the success of businesses like Commonwealth Agri-Energy, Owensboro Grain and many others. Their success filters down to the Kentucky farmers who produce the raw materials for their products.  Not everything the board has done has succeeded.  Some ideas looked good on  paper but just didn’t work in the real world. That’s to be expected. In fact, I would say some of those projects that failed were as valuable as those that succeeded because they gave us important information that we can use to do a better job. The only way to avoid failure is to stop trying. But that’s also the only sure way to avoid success.