Daviess County is slated to receive $100,000 in funding from the Kentucky Agricultural Development Fund, according to State Rep. Suzanne Miles. The funds were specifically appropriated for a program that helps ag producers improve and diversify current operations in a wide variety of investment areas.
The announcement was shared with legislators at the monthly meeting of the Tobacco Settlement Agreement Fund Oversight Committee. The legislative committee reviews funding awarded by the KADF.
Daviess County’s funds art going to the Green River Area Beef Improvement Group as part of the County Agricultural Investment Program.
“It is an honor and a privilege to take part in this announcement,” Miles said. “These funding opportunities are a prime example of the positive impact that the teamwork between the legislature and the Kentucky Agricultural Development Fund has. This money specifically will be a tremendous asset to our local operations, and I look forward to seeing how this will benefit our communities, as well as the communities around it.”
The Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement fund was established as a result of an accord that was reached in 1998 between four major tobacco product manufacturers and 46 states. Kentucky’s portion of the payout has surpassed $2.2 billion in what remains the largest civil settlement in U.S. history. The legislature has since utilized these funds for exploring new opportunities to benefit Kentucky farms now and in the future.
In addition to monitoring awards from the tobacco settlement, lawmakers also review the long-term trajectory of both county and state-wide agricultural development plans. As a result, the Committee is tasked with devising investment strategies to revitalize and diversify tobacco farms, promoting research in alternative crop production methods, and most importantly, directly assisting local farming activities. Alongside agricultural initiatives, a large portion of the settlement money has been invested in early childhood development programs and public health programs.
