Tagged: drought

The Kentucky Department of Agriculture has reactivated its hay hotline to help farmers find forage for their livestock.  Agriculture Commissioner James Comer says he restarted the hotline to connect farmers in need of forage to others willing to sell it.  The Department’s website also has online directories where producers can list hay for sale, and where farmers can search for available hay by county. 

The summer drought is expected to have an impact on many of the Kentucky State Fair’s agricultural entries. Kentucky’s suffered a hot, dry summer, and farmers in the western half of the state are bearing the brunt of the disaster. The stress has already shown up on fair entries in other drought-stricken areas of the country, with smaller ears of corn and other vegetables and fewer head of livestock on display.

Kentucky agriculture is still reeling from a one-two punch of heat and dry conditions. And farmers are feeling the pain from the prospects of shrinking income and inflated expenses caused by weather-related setbacks. Corn fields are shriveled, especially here in western Kentucky where the dry spell has been worst. Poultry farmers are being hit with higher grain prices to feed birds. And pastures turned to stubble are forcing cattle producers to dip into hay reserves. State Agriculture Commissioner James Comer said it is a disaster affecting every segment of agriculture.

Farmers around the Midwest are seeing their crops and livestock die in the midst of one of the most severe droughts in the region in years. The drought was recently upgraded in severity to “Exceptional Drought,” the highest level on the drought severity scale. United States Department of Agriculture officials are looking at ways to help out farmers. USDA Deputy Under Secretary Karis Gutter toured the region last week to meet with farmers. WKMS’s Shelly Baskin spoke with Gutter about what he learned.