FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Monday, April 23, 2007

For more information contact:
Bill Clary

(502) 564-4696

bill.clary@ky.gov

COMMISSIONER FARMER APPLAUDS BOOST
IN TOBACCO SETTLEMENT FUNDING

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer was pleased to hear that the Kentucky Agricultural Development Fund will receive a $9.1 million boost in the current fiscal year.

“This unexpected funding will enable the Agricultural Development Board to fund more projects,” said Commissioner Farmer, who serves as vice chair of the board. “This one-of-a-kind initiative is helping Kentucky farmers diversify their operations and make up for lost tobacco income. It already is producing measurable results, and this added funding will help even more to lay the foundation for a bright future for Kentucky agriculture.”

The Governor’s Office of Agricultural Policy announced that Kentucky has received $107 million as its share of Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) funds, $18.2 million more than the amount budgeted for the fiscal year ending June 30. The Agricultural Development Fund gets half of Kentucky’s MSA funds. The remainder goes to early childhood development programs and health care improvement programs.

 The Agricultural Development Board has awarded more than $236 million for more than 2,830 projects since the program was created nearly seven years ago.

The Kentucky General Assembly created the Agricultural Development Fund and the Agricultural Development Board to administer agriculture’s share of Kentucky’s MSA funds. The attorneys general of 46 states, including Kentucky, signed the master settlement agreement with the four largest tobacco companies in the United States in 1998 to settle state lawsuits to recover billions of dollars in costs associated with treating smoking-related illnesses.

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