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FRANKFORT,
Ky. — The former Kentucky State University farm manager
has joined the Kentucky Department of Agriculture as
director of the Division of Value-Added Plant Production.
Mac
Stone also produces vegetables and livestock and is
a trained organic inspector.
"I
am pleased to welcome Mac Stone to the Department,"
Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer said. "Mac
brings a strong background in organic and sustainable
agriculture that will serve the citizens of Kentucky
very well."
"I
appreciate this opportunity to continue my work for
Kentucky agriculture," Stone said. "My goal
in this position is to improve profitability of production
agriculture through education, facilitation and commitment
to quality. We also must develop more efficient distribution
patterns to benefit growers and consumers alike. I look
forward to meeting these challenges."
At
KSU, Stone transformed a working farm in southern Franklin
County into a research and demonstration station. Under
Stone's guidance, the KSU farm established fruit, vegetable,
greenhouse, livestock, aquaculture, apiculture and composting
programs. Stone helped start KSU's Third Thursday sustainable
agriculture workshop.
While
at KSU, Stone went on a trip to Switzerland sponsored
by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, where
his group observed organic and environmentally conscious
agriculture practices. He also traveled to Italy with
a group from the University of Kentucky on a size-appropriate
technology project.
Stone
is president of Kentucky Sustainable Agriculture Community,
vice president of Partners for Family Farms and a board
member of the Organic Farming Research Foundation and
the American Pastured Poultry Producers Association.
Stone
and his wife, Ann Bell Stone, produce vegetables, tobacco,
Angus for seed stock, organic beef, lamb and organically
raised pastured poultry at Elmwood Stock Farm in Scott
County. Stone has three daughters: Sydne, a recent graduate
of Vanderbilt University; Caroline, a student at Centre
College, and Laura, a student at Vanderbilt.
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