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FRANKFORT, Ky. — Kentucky Department of Agriculture staff will collect a load of livestock feed for farmers affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita at two locations on Thursday.
The KDA will load bags of feed at Burkmann Mills in Danville at 9 a.m. and at Bagdad Roller Mills in Shelby County at 2 p.m. as part of its drive for farm supplies and cash donations for farmers in the Gulf Coast states. The Department has changed the deadline for donations to Oct. 14 to allow more Kentuckians to participate.
FFA members from Boyle, Garrard, Lincoln and Madison counties will help load the feed at Burkmann Mills. Shelby and Franklin County FFA members will help complete the load at Bagdad Roller Mills. The KDA’s Rodger Bingham, better known as “Kentucky Joe” from the TV series “Survivor: The Australian Outback,” will be on hand at both stops.
The feed will be transported to Pearl River County in southern Mississippi, where officials there will distribute it to local farmers as needed. The Department will continue collecting tax-deductible donations of feed, fencing and cash from organizations, businesses and individuals until the Oct. 14 deadline, after which donations will be shipped to the Gulf Coast states.
“I want to thank Burkmann Mills and Bagdad Roller Mills for their generosity toward farmers who are in dire straits right now,” Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer said. “I also appreciate the help of Kentucky FFA and all of our other partners in this endeavor.”
The Department has established eight collection points throughout the state to receive donated farm supplies – Murray State University Livestock Exposition Center, Western Kentucky University L.D. Brown Ag Expo Center, Otis Bryant and Son in Caneyville, Densified Solutions in Elizabethtown, the KDA’s 107 Corporate Drive office, the University of Kentucky Maine Chance Farm, Eastern Kentucky University Meadowbrook Farm, and Morehead State University Derrickson Agricultural Complex.
Cash donations may be made by check or credit card to the Kentucky Cattlemen’s Association, 176 Pasadena Drive, Lexington, KY 40503. Donors are asked to write checks to “KCA Katrina Fund.” To make a credit card donation, call the KCA at (859) 278-0899.
The drive was launched to encourage Kentucky farmers and others to help farmers who suffered damaged buildings, fencing and pastures in the hurricanes. Other partners include Anderson Circle Farm, the Hardin County Cattlemen’s Association, the Kentucky Dairy Development Council, Kentucky Farm Bureau, Kentucky 4-H, the Kentucky Pork Producers Association and the Kentucky Veterinary Medical Association.
For more information on how you can make a tax-deductible donation, call the Kentucky Department of Agriculture toll-free at 1-888-567-9589.
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NOTE TO EDITORS:
DIRECTIONS TO BURKMANN FARM SUPPLY: Take U.S. 127 south to U.S. 150 (at Boyle County High School); turn left on U.S. 150 to Danville.
DIRECTIONS TO BAGDAD ROLLER MILLS: Take Interstate 64 to Ky. 395 (exit 43); turn north on Ky. 395 to Bagdad.
For stories and pictures of farm damage in Louisiana, go to www.ldaf.state.la.us.
For stories and pictures of farm damage in Mississippi, go to http://www.msfb.com/index.html
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