Kentucky Farm Economy Shows Improvement

USAgNet reports that Kentucky’s farm economy showed marked improvement in 2010, after being hit with a commodity market crash in 2008 and a global recession in 2009.

Agricultural economists with the University of Kentucky (UK) College of Agriculture estimate Kentucky farm cash receipts to be $4.4 to $4.7 billion this year, up at least $100 to $300 million over 2009 and well above the 10-year average of $4 billion. Since the economy is slowly recovering and agricultural exports are thriving, 2011 cash receipts and net farm income should be significantly higher than last year.

“Larger volumes of grain exports at higher prices, as well as improved horticulture and meat exports, are behind the reversal,” said Craig Infanger, extension professor in the UK Department of Agricultural Economics.

Infanger and fellow UK agricultural economists from the UK Department of Horticulture presented a 2011 outlook and an overview of Kentucky farm economy in 2010 as part of the annual Kentucky Farm Bureau Federation conference in Louisville. ◆