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FRANKFORT, Ky. — Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer praised Governor Ernie Fletcher and the Kentucky General Assembly for enacting legislation that requires state agencies to buy Kentucky farm products if the products are available and meet quality and price requirements.
Governor Fletcher signed House Bill 669 into law on Monday. The Kentucky House of Representatives and the state Senate passed the bill unanimously in the recently concluded session of the General Assembly.
“This bill provides our farmers another market for their Kentucky Proud products,” Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer said. “It also gives consumers more opportunities to discover that nothing else is close to Kentucky Proud foods. I want to thank Governor Fletcher and the General Assembly for passing this bill, which will help Kentucky farmers make a living on the farm.”
John Sharpe, a member of the Community Farm Alliance board and a Scott County cattle farmer, said the act will boost efforts to diversify Kentucky’s agriculture industry.
“The state has invested a lot of money helping farmers to diversify into new areas of production,” Sharpe said. “Providing dependable markets for these new products will give farmers the assurance they need to keep diversifying. It is a common-sense step and a win-win situation for everyone involved.”
The KDA is helping state agencies and institutions develop relationships with producers to generate sales of Kentucky Proud products to the state, said Michael Judge, executive director of the Department’s Office of Agriculture Marketing and Product Promotion.
House Bill 669 also requires state agencies that purchase Kentucky-grown foods to report on the amount of each product purchased to the General Assembly and the Kentucky Department of Agriculture on or before Jan. 1 of each year. The bill was sponsored by state Reps. Adrian Arnold, D-Mount Sterling, and Tom McKee, D-Cynthiana.
The Kentucky Department of Parks bought more than $21,000 worth of Kentucky Proud produce in 2005, the first full year that the state bought produce from local growers. The state last fall adopted new regulations that will allow the state parks to buy Kentucky Proud meat and dairy products. The Parks Department operates 17 resorts throughout the state and three cafes in Frankfort.
Kentucky farm income totaled $4.13 billion in 2004, the first year for which farm receipts topped $4 billion, according to the Kentucky Agricultural Statistics Service.
Kentucky Proud is the KDA’s marketing program for Kentucky-raised or Kentucky-produced agricultural products. More than 500 producers are members of the program.
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