FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Thursday, May 3, 2007

For more information contact:
Bill Clary, (502) 564-4696, bill.clary@ky.gov

Angela Blank, (502) 564-4627, angelag.blank@ky.gov

AG TASK FORCE LOOKS FOR COMMON GROUND
IN FIRST MEETING TO DEVELOP STRATEGIC PLAN

ELIZABETHTOWN, Ky. — Kentucky farm leaders discussed the common ground among the various agricultural sectors and rural communities in the first meeting of the Kentucky Agriculture Council’s Task Force on the Future of Agriculture Wednesday in Elizabethtown. The task force is charged with developing a strategic plan for Kentucky agriculture.

Michael Judge, executive director of the Kentucky Department of Agriculture’s Office of Agriculture Marketing and Product Promotion, delivered Commissioner Richie Farmer’s message encouraging the delegates to work together as a team.

“I think you all are like me in that you’ve been involved in Kentucky agriculture all your lives,” Judge said. “I think you’re all like me in that we would like to leave it better than the way we found it.”

Keith Rogers, executive director of the Governor’s Office of Agricultural Policy, said Governor Ernie Fletcher was impressed with the “positive energy” he witnessed at the Governor’s Summit on Agriculture in March.

Rogers encouraged the farm leaders to be willing to compromise. He asked them to reach agreement on a plan that would create “a strong and profitable agriculture sector and strong and profitable rural communities across Kentucky.”

Lori Garkovich, Steve Isaacs, and Rick Maurer from the University of Kentucky led the task force in a discussion of the future of agriculture.

“All agriculture commodities, even though they are completely different, share common interests such as risk management, labor, and fuel prices,” Dr. Garkovich explained. “There will be challenges in the process of the strategic plan, but we need to find a way to minimize the barriers.” 

Governor Fletcher hosted the Governor’s Summit on Agriculture on March 15 that brought agriculture leaders together to begin the process of developing a “Strategic Plan of Action for Agriculture.” Agriculture leaders in attendance at the summit accepted Governor Fletcher’s challenge to create a strategic plan of action that will encompass all aspects of agriculture and lead Kentucky agriculture to the next level of success.

The task force was formed to lead the effort in the next step of the strategic planning process. The task force’s vision states, “Together we will develop the conditions that will enable our agricultural sectors and our rural communities to prosper.”

The task force is chaired by Dr. Tony Brannon, dean of the School of Agriculture at Murray State University. It is made up of representatives from more than 40 agricultural organizations across the Commonwealth ranging from the Cattlemen’s Association to the Kentucky Nursery and Landscape Association. All these organization are willing to step forward and take on this challenge.

The Task Force will meet a total of six times throughout this year across the state and produce a strategic plan by Dec. 31. It will work to incorporate the priorities, action plans, and benchmarks of the plan into the strategic plans of individual agricultural organizations. 

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