Kentucky Farm Bureau shining the spotlight on those who are #StillFarming

Kyle Hubbs is a Supervisor on the Knox County Kentucky Farm Bureau board, and he also serves as a Knox County Soil Conservation Supervisor.

He, and many others like him across the state, have been doing their part recently to help educate the public on the importance of agriculture through the Kentucky Farm Bureau Federation’s ongoing #StillFarming campaign.

“It really does a lot to help farmers, and there is a lot of community outreach,” Hubbs said of the KFB Federation, adding that the local chapter in Knox County has presented events such as an annual “safety day” that features different educational exhibits and programs for kids.

Another effort that helps local youth comes in the form of KFB scholarship programs. “We do look at ag students,” Hubbs explained. “But we don’t limit it to just that. Their parents do need to be Knox County Farm Bureau customers, though, and the students can attend any of the high schools in our county (Knox Central, Lynn Camp or Barbourville).”

As for what he does when he’s not involved with one KFB program or another, Hubbs said, “I’ve farmed my entire life. My dad and grandparents were farmers.”

Hubbs said his daughter will be the fifth generation of his family to help work their family farm, which is located in the Poplar Grove area of Knox County.

“The farm belonged to my wife’s great-grandfather originally,” Hubbs said. “My father-in-law was a dairy and tobacco farmer until he retired in 2002. Then I took over, and I turned it into a beef cattle operation.”

Speaking about the importance of his work, Hubbs said, “Kentucky is one of the largest beef producing states east of the Mississippi River. There are a lot of smaller farms, as opposed to just a few larger ones.”

“Kentucky agriculture is very important to not just the state, but to the entire United States,” Hubbs continued. “Most of the beef that is raised here will probably be shipped out west.”

As with pretty much everything else this year, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative effect on the agriculture industry. Speaking about some of the recent struggles, Hubbs said, “COVID has made it harder to get parts and supplies. Those problems started at the manufacturing level when facilities had to shut down earlier this year. There have been a lot of shipping issues, and it has put an additional strain on operations that were already smaller to begin with.”

Still, despite all of that, Hubbs and his fellow farmers have continued to do the work necessary to feed folks across the country.

Mark Haney, President of KFB and co-owner of Haney’s Appledale Farm in Nancy, spoke about the men and women of our state who are #StillFarming, saying, “Farmers are doing the same thing now that they were pre-COVID, and that is feeding America, and feeding our allies around the world. It takes farmers, as essential workers, to produce the food, the fiber, and all of the things that we need to be able to provide to our citizens.”

“It takes a lot of work,” Haney continued. “And I am just so proud of the agriculture community in this state that they have been able to continue to deliver food to the nation in the middle of some of the hardest times that we have ever seen.”

Speaking about the future of farming in Kentucky, Haney said, “I am excited about the future of agriculture in our state. Agriculture is imperative to the livelihood of Kentuckians, and it is becoming more and more tech-driven. We’re doing things progressively in the ag field, so that means there is a huge amount of opportunity for younger folks to come in and learn how to be savvy with these new forms of technology.”

For more information on Kentucky Farm Bureau and their “StillFarming campaign, visit them online at www.kyfb.com, or search the hashtag on social media.