Contact Us
AgNet
  • About KDA
      • Office of Commissioner
      • Office of Administrative Services
      • Office of Agricultural Marketing
      • Office of Agricultural Policy
      • Office of Communications
      • Office for Consumer & Environmental Protection
      • Office of Legal Services
      • Office of State Veterinarian
      • Request an Official Appearance
      • International Trade
      • Kentucky Hunger Initiative
  • LICENSING & LAWS
  • Forms
  • News
      • Deer hunters encouraged
      • Deer hunters encouraged to donate to Kentucky Hunters for the Hungry
      • USDA Ag Census
      • Commissioner asks farm producers to complete USDA Ag Census
      • Kentucky Agricultural News
      • Press Releases
      • News Archive
      • Ag-Related Resources
      • Kentucky Hunger Initiative
      • Dicamba Training
      • Hemp Program
      • Licensing and Certification Portal (login required)
      • Livestock Entry Requirements
      • Market News
      • Pesticide Registration and Renewal
      • Pesticide Training and Testing
  • Online Services
      • Nuisance Weed Spraying Program
      • Ag Businesses Directory
      • Ag Ringtones
      • ARD Inspector Search
      • Free Web Page Builder
      • Hay for Sale
      • Hemp Licensing Portal
        (login required)
      • KDA Calendar of Events
      • Landscape Plant Availability Guide
      • Licensing and Certification Log In Portal
      • Licensing and Certification Registration Portal
      • Nuisance Weed Spraying Program
      • Online Permitting System
      • Pest Control Company Directory
      • Pesticide Complaint Form
      • Pollinator Protection Registration System
      • Product Registration and Renewal System
      • Purebred Breeders Directory
      • Service Agency
      • Stray or Abandoned Horses
      • Weights, Measures & Motor Fuel Complaint Form
  • Ag Policy
      • KADF Applicants
      • Kentucky Agricultural Development Fund Applicants
      • Kentucky Agricultural Development Fund (KADF)
      • Administrators
      • Applicants
      • Applicant Reporting
      • County Agricultural Development Councils
      • Kentucky Agricultural Development Board
      • Kentucky Agricultural Finance Corporation (KAFC)
      • Application Deadlines
      • Kentucky Agricultural Finance Corporation Board
      • Lender & Mentor
      • Loan Programs
      • Kentucky Agricultural Policy Publications
      • Annual Report 2019
      • Annual Report 2020
      • Annual Report 2021
  • Animal
      • Animal Disposal and Rendering
      • Animal Health
      • Animal Marketing Programs
      • Aquaculture
      • Beekeeping
      • Brands
      • Composting
      • Emergency Management
      • Equine
      • Farmed Cervids
      • Livestock
      • Livestock Welfare Complaints
      • Market News
      • Movement and Identification
      • Online Permitting System
      • Poultry
      • Purebred Breeders Directory
      • State Veterinarian
      • Stockyards and Dealers
      • Stray or Abandoned Horses
  • Plant
      • Farmers Markets
      • Forage/Hay Testing
      • GAP-Good Agriculture Practices
      • Ginseng
      • Grape and Wine
      • Hemp
      • Hemp Licensing Portal
        (login required)
      • Horticulture
      • Landscape Plant Availability Guide
      • Organic
      • Plant Marketing Programs
      • Produce Safety Program
  • Regulatory
      • Aerial Recreational Devices
      • Amusement Ride Inspections
      • Brands
      • Composting
      • Egg Licensing
      • Food Programs
      • Grain Licensing and Regulation
      • Grain Licensing Search
      • Licensing and Certification Portal
        (login required)
      • Market News
      • Organic Program
      • Pest Control - Agriculture
      • Pest Control - Structural
      • Pesticide Product Registration
      • Pesticide Complaint Form
      • Pesticide Training and Testing
      • Public Pest and Recycling Assistance
      • Rendering
      • Stockyards and Dealers
      • Teen & Tobacco
      • Weights and Measures
      • Weights, Measures & Motor Fuel Complaint Form
  • Promotional
      • Ag Businesses
      • Ag Education
      • Agritourism
      • Appalachia Proud
      • Buy Local
      • CSA - Community Supported Agriculture
      • Eat to Win KY
      • Emergency Management
      • Farm License Plate
      • Farm Safety
      • Farm to Campus
      • Farm to Fork
      • Farm to School
      • Farmers Markets Directory
      • Farmland Preservation/PACE
      • Farms Are Fun
      • Forage/Hay Testing
      • Free Web Page Builder
      • Good Agricultural Practices - GAP
      • Grants
      • Homegrown By Heroes
      • Hunger Initiative
      • International Trade
      • Jobs for Vets
      • Junior Chef
      • Kentucky Proud
      • Kentucky Wine
      • Livestock Tag
      • Market News
      • Mobile Science Activity Center
      • Promotion and Development
      • Shows and Fairs
8
MAR

Kentucky woman recognized for her contributions to family farm

By Chris Aldridge
Kentucky Ag News

March 8 is International Women’s Day, and with March being Women’s History Month, this is the perfect time to recognize one Kentucky woman’s contributions to her family farm.

Tonya Cherry plays an integral role in her three-generation family farm along, with her husband and son. Cherry Farms, based near Fountain Run in south central Kentucky, spans 900 acres, 650 owned, in parts of Allen, Barren, and Monroe counties.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, which disrupted beef supplies to grocery stores, Cherry Farms replaced its 50-acre tobacco crop by selling cuts and sides of Kentucky Proud Black Angus beef at local farmers’ markets.

“I’m our beef marketer and salesperson,” Tonya said, noting Cherry Farms has raised beef cattle from its beginning 55 years ago but had never sold it directly to the public. “I’m at the farmers’ market every Saturday year-round, and I go to three different farmers’ markets all summer long.

Recognized for contributions to family farm

“When we were raising tobacco, it took 15 people. We replaced it with one person – me!”

Cherry Farms milks more than 100 head of dairy cattle and also raises hogs and row crops, such as corn, soybeans, and wheat. It grows all of its own livestock feed, such as rye grasses and hay. The farm also has tried new crops, such as hemp and lavender.

“We started in 2018 with 500 lavender plants,” Tonya said. “Last year, the heat and excessive rain was rough on it, then we had the freeze back around Christmas. I do not know if it’ll make it out of that or not.

“I was making soaps and body scrubs with it. Because we’re a dairy, I make soap out of cow’s milk, and I put lavender in some of it.”

Tonya, a former member of the Kentucky Women in Agriculture Board of Directors, is proud that her husband, Mark; their 25-year-old son, John Mark; and she all make a living on the farm. It is profitable enough to hire full-time help with the dairy.

“We’ve been full-time, farm income only for 25 years,” she said. “It’s very tough – scary sometimes.

“My husband is a first-generation dairy farmer. When he was in high school, his dad told him he would send him to school wherever he wanted to go, but my husband told him he wanted to milk cows.

“He’s been milking seven days a week for 30 years,” she added. “Even if you have somebody to milk with you, that’s a really long time to have that kind of commitment. But that’s what he’s always loved.”

The family received an emotional blow in late February when Mark’s 76-year-old father died. Duel Cherry started the family farm in 1968.

Tonya says it’s tough to make a profit farming without being diversified.

“If you were just milking the last few years, you’d go broke,” she said. “We keep all our dairy calves, grow all our own replacements, and sell the steers, so we have income coming in from a lot of different directions.”

Press Release Sign-up

    In the News

  • 1/24/23 - Agriculture Commissioner announces State Veterinarian search committee
  • 1/26/23 - Nominees sought for 2023 Kentucky Leopold Conservation award
  • 2/1/23 - Donation to Ag Tag fund helps Kentucky's agriculture youth, farm families
  • 2/3/23 - Working group named to focus on issues, solutions for large animal vet shortage
  • 2/6/23 - Commissioner Quarles celebrates February as Lamb Month in Kentucky
  • View All Press Releases...

    Broadcast Schedule

  • Across Kentucky
  • Cromwell Ag Network
  • Morning Ag Report - WKDZ 106.5 FM

    Kentucky Farm Fact

  • Kentucky has 184 organic farms that account for $14 million in sales. #KyAg365

KDA Video

Beekeeping 101: A Guide for Beginners

State Apiarist Tammy Horn Potter tells beginner beekeepers the four essential tools they need to get started.

Commissioner Quarles asked Facebook to stop rejecting pages that promote hemp

Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles told legislators about the conflict with a social media giant.

Commissioner Quarles talks to WHAS11 about Industrial Hemp in Kentucky

Commissioner of Agriculture Ryan Quarles talked to WHAS11's Chris Williams about the enthusiasm for industrial hemp.

The Kentucky Hemp Comeback

Kentucky farmers are exploring industrial hemp, a crop that connects Kentucky’s past to its future. Kentucky businesses are taking that raw material and turning it into products.

ABOUT KDA AGNET CONTACT US REQUEST AN APPEARANCE
KY Department of Agriculture |Phone: (502) 573-0282 |Fax: (502) 564-2133 |1-800-327-6568 |Disclaimer |Ag links
  • © Kentucky Agriculture Department. All rights reserved.