Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles said Thursday’s announced lifting of China’s ban on poultry imports from the U.S. puts “wind in our sails” for a bigger trade deal with the Asian country.
Poultry is the number one agriculture commodity produced in the Commonwealth. Quarles said poultry is one of the few industries experiencing sustained growth in Kentucky.
“We’re starting to see poultry barns being built in areas of the state that they simply weren’t in ten years ago. So, it’s moving from west to east. It’s giving more opportunity geographically to more farmers across the Commonwealth,” said Quarles.
Although still deeply rooted in west Kentucky, Quarles noted poultry barns are shifting east. There are now barns in Owen County and around Elizabethtown. The agriculture commissioner admited it will take some time for the effects of the China trade decision to be felt at the farm level.
The Kentucky Department of Agriculture reported poultry and eggs accounted for $1.3 billion in cash receipts in 2017. That's up 18.3% from 2012. In addition, the Kentucky Poultry Federation said one in every four rows of corn and soybeans grown in the state goes to feed chickens.
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