Kentucky Senate committee approves agriculture economic development fund bill unanimously

The Kentucky Senate Agriculture Committee voted unanimously to advance a bill establishing an agriculture economic development fund to help attract processors, feedlots and other market infrastructure to the state, committee members and agency officials said at a committee meeting in Frankfort.

Supporters said the fund is intended to raise local demand for Kentucky-grown commodities and fill gaps in processing, transportation and other parts of the supply chain so farmers can get higher prices for grain and livestock. “The more opportunities that we give our farmers in order to have that profitability … the more productive that our ground’s gonna be,” said the Commissioner (Kentucky Department of Agriculture), who testified about market and infrastructure challenges.

The bill’s backers told senators that higher local processing capacity and biofuel demand — including sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and other biofuels —…