Come January, Kentucky lawmakers will be wrestling with various budgetary issues including the much talked about state pension shortfall. Meanwhile, various other groups hope their funding priorities are also heard. The Kentucky Farm Bureau adopted its legislative platform last week. Farm Bureau Public Affairs Director Jeff Harper says farmers want to see Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement dollars stay in the field. “It doesn’t have to go to agriculture, but the general assembly, in my opinion, has done a wonderful job of investing this money,” said Harper.
Harper says for years the settlement funds have gone toward a variety of regional and local agricultural diversification projects. Another top priority for Kentucky farmers is the continued funding of the Soil Erosion and Water Quality Cost Sharing Program. Harper says during the last session, the legislature placed $5 million additional dollars into the fund. “That program is oversubscribed,” explained Harper. “In other words, you could probably put $15 million into that fund and it would still all be utilized because of the great demands.”
Harper says money from the cost share program goes to support varying environmental projects on individual farms. He says farmers are required to match state funds with their own dollars. The 2016 legislative session convenes January fifth.?
