Agriculture

During a virtual hearing, many small food producers said the Kentucky Department for Public Health proposal would cripple their business, especially given the economic downturn caused by the pandemic.

Evans Orchard and Cider Mill in Georgetown claims state and local public health officials have been slow to provide reopening guidance to the agritourism industry.

The new partners include the Dutch government, several Dutch companies, the University of Kentucky, Morehead State University, Eastern Kentucky University, the University of Pikeville and Berea College, Estep reports.

The USDA set aside $3 billion to buy ag products but didn't begin making purchases until a month after aid was promised.

In 2019, more than 8,300 immigrants with H-2A work visas were hired by about 780 Kentucky producers.

The Kentucky Restaurant Association says it submitted a proposal for reopening restaurants April 24, but hadn't heard back from Beshear.

The Louisville Metro Public Health Department received complaints in early April that employees were concerned the company was not doing enough to protect them.

In Kentucky, at least 200 workers in meatpacking plants have been infected, and one worker has died.

Alltech, the Kentucky agricultural company, has produced a video series about how coronavirus could affect food production and distribution.

As more growers jumped into the market, the price of CBD-rich hemp fell 75 percent in less than a year.

Direct payments to farms from the government are expected to total $22.4 billion, which is $8.8 billion higher than in 2018 — a 64% increase.

Hundreds of farmers across the Ohio Valley are finally getting to harvest thousands of acres of hemp, the first large crop since the federal government legalized hemp cultivation last December.