The move follows a request to Beshear by Agriculture Commissioner Jonathan Shell, asking for that action after President Trump issued an executive order to defer federal taxes on the fuel and allowed the fuel to be used on public roadways.
Governors in Texas, Nebraska and Louisiana have taken steps to allow red-dyed diesel on roads. The fuel type is commonly used on farmland and is tax-exempt.
Kentucky’s tobacco industry has shrunk dramatically over the past two decades, leaving the farmers who remain to reckon with not only an economic shift, but the loss of generations of tradition and community.
Trump announced last week he had struck a deal to import hundreds of thousands of tons of ground beef at a lower tariff rate in exchange for retail prices below market rates. Some usually loyal GOP allies of the president have rebuked the plan.
As the largest recorded U.S. cyclospora outbreak sickens thousands, researchers are examining how sewage-contaminated water used for irrigation may allow the parasite to reach food.
The executive order, which Trump signed, directs government agencies to promote holistic farming practices that rely on natural land rehabilitation over chemicals.
In Christian County, farmers say rising costs, supply disruptions and global conflict are tightening margins so severely that some local operations may not survive.
Even as Trump insists his "AI dominance" agenda will benefit rural communities, most Americans, including rural residents, don't want to live near a data center project.
