Kentucky agriculture commissioner thanks subcommittee for prior investments and asks for funding to retain staff, expand rural programs

Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Jonathan Veil told the Budget Review Subcommittee on General Government that programs funded in the last budget are delivering results and asked lawmakers to fund staff recruitment and continued agricultural economic development ahead of the next session.

Veil spoke to the subcommittee about several line items lawmakers added in the most recent budget, including Farms to Food Bank, county fair grants, the Kentucky Rural Mental Health Suicide Prevention and Farm Safety Program (known as Raising Hope), and funding for emergency preparedness and response in the department.

“Those funds are extremely important, not just to the folks in the state of Kentucky that need those services, especially a lot of our seniors,” Veil said, noting that many food‑bank clients are over 65. Veil said the Farms to Food Bank line was $850,000 in fiscal 2025 and is budgeted at $1,000,000 for fiscal 2026, and that the program both helps food‑insecure residents and provides a market for farmers.

Veil told lawmakers the legislature increased county fair grant funding by $250,000 in the last session and that the department awarded nine county projects with that money, a record number. He said the additional funding helped fairs address infrastructure needs such as electrical systems and other site upgrades.

The commissioner credited a $1,000,000 appropriation to Raising Hope — a program focused on rural mental‑health, suicide prevention and farm safety — with identifying urgent health needs at events such as the Owensboro Ag Expo. “Because of the work and the monies that you all spent there, we actually were able to send 14 individuals to the hospital directly because of health issues that were identified during those health checkups,” Veil said.

On emergency preparedness, Veil said the department’s division of emergency preparedness and response has used recent funding to plan for avian influenza and other threats. He said the state has identified wild birds testing positive for avian influenza but “as of right now, we have no commercial herds or backyard flocks of birds that have been affected by the bird flu.” Veil described the department’s quarantine and response plans as in place should an outbreak occur.

Veil also summarized federal actions he said will affect egg prices and farm biosecurity, attributing the measures to the U.S. Department of Agriculture leadership and the White House. He said federal proposals include about $500 million for farm biosecurity, $400 million for indemnities for producers who must depopulate flocks, and $100 million for research and development; he predicted those actions “within the next 2 to 3 months” would lower egg prices nationwide.

On state legislation and administrative authority, Veil urged the subcommittee to codify provisions from Senate Bill 28 and referenced House Joint Resolution 371 as a vehicle to retain $5,000,000 allocated for agricultural economic development. He said the department intends to work with the Kentucky Economic Development Cabinet to attract processors and end users to fill gaps in marketing and infrastructure across commodities.

Veil closed by asking for support to address staff recruitment and retention at the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, saying turnover is driven by the department’s inability to match salaries and opportunities available elsewhere in state government. “We desperately need to look at that in the department of agriculture to bring us up to par with other agencies,” he said.

During questioning about recent flooding in eastern Kentucky, Veil said the department is coordinating with federal and state relief agencies, the Cattlemen’s Association and University of Kentucky Extension to identify farmers with hay losses and other needs. He also described unsolicited donations of hay and fencing from other farm communities after major disasters, which the department is using to help affected producers.

The Budget Review Subcommittee on General Government did not take any formal votes while Veil was before the committee. The meeting adjourned with the chair noting the next scheduled meeting.