No one seems to know how much of what Kentucky farmers produce winds up overseas as foreign aid. Longtime central Kentucky farmer Hoppy Henton:
“Someone asked me, ‘Where do your soybeans go? Where did your corn go?’ And it goes, it goes into the commercial trade. And I don't know whether it goes to Ethiopia or whether it goes to a feed lot somewhere else. I have no idea.”
A spokeswoman for the state Department of Agriculture said the department has not historically monitored federal spending for Kentucky crop exports through USAID – the U.S. Agency for International Development. USAID was shut down last week by the Trump Administration. Also declining comment are farmer’s advocacy or trade groups like the Kentucky Farm Bureau and the Kentucky corn growers and wheat associations. Henton said the law of supply and demand suggests what will happen if there’s an end or major reduction in foreign food aid.
“U.S. Department of Agriculture or the State Department buys it and then donates it or gives it away. So it is a part of the market, and if someone quits buying, obviously that reduces demand, and it will have some effect the price.”
Henton said in general, if foreign food aid is reduced, Kentucky farmers would be hurt less than their counterparts in other states because crops grown here aren’t as conducive to long trips overseas.
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