Quarles speaks to crowd at county's annual farm bureau meeting

Aug. 18—Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles had high praise for McLean County farmers, noting they play a "major" role in the state's agricultural success.

"This county is focused on agriculture through crops like corn and soybeans, but also the poultry industry is quite large here as well," he said. "The farmers here punch above their weight class, and it's not just about large-scale farms. It's also about local agriculture and farmers markets."

Quarles was the featured speaker at annual meeting of the McLean County Farm Bureau. The event was Saturday at the 4-H Activities Center in Myer Creek Park in Calhoun.

U.S. Rep. Brett Guthrie was also in attendance.

Quarles, a Republican candidate for governor in 2023, has served as ag commissioner since 2016.

"(The Kentucky Department of Agriculture) does many things, but our No. 1 job is to promote Kentucky agriculture," he said. "Whether that's our Kentucky Proud program, shows and fairs or helping Kentucky farmers find markets domestically or internationally."

Quarles said the county has a strong Future Farmers of America and 4-H presence. He said the KDA helped pay for part of the 4-H fairgrounds at Myer Creek Park to promote local and state fairs.

"The farmers in this county deserve a round of applause because they performed well during COVID-19 and kept us fed," he said.

Quarles said many people had the opportunity to learn about Kentucky agriculture and where their food comes from during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"When the restaurants were shut down, a lot of people, like me, had to learn how to cook again," he said. "Hopefully they took a moment, stepped back and said, 'Oh wow, food doesn't just magically show up at the grocery store; it starts on a family farm.'

"COVID-19 also highlighted some supply chain issues in agriculture, including meat processing," he said. "If you went to a grocery store two years ago, you'd be limited in what you could buy, so we made the strategic decision to invest in local meat processing, including several in the McLean County area."

He said the KDA wants Kentucky Proud products to be "bred here, fed here and processed here" and will continue to be a focus post-COVID.

Quarles said inflation is one of the top issues facing agriculture and farmers.

"Anything that travels on a semi-truck or any tractor out in a field is affected by the rising cost of fuel, but also consumers are feeling it when they go buy groceries," he said. "Inflation has been a major issue for American agriculture, and we need to make sure people can afford food and that we promote American energy independence."

Quarles said energy independence would help reduce the cost of production. He also talked about broadband and getting Kentuckians back into the state's workforce.

"We need to get back to our roots as Kentuckians," he said.

Before the meeting began, winners from several contests were announced. Bailey Forker won the variety contest; Cadence Keister won the female outstanding youth contest; and Mavrick Keister won the male outstanding youth contest.

All three winners will go on to compete at the district level in October. Kyle Ayer was awarded the 2022 McLean County Young Farmer plaque.