West Kentucky offers a variety of quality assured bulk commodities and agriculture products for food processing and other consumable markets.
According to the Kentucky Agriculture Department, the state ranks among the top US producers in corn, wheat, barley, sorghum and soybeans, with customers benefiting by receiving the highest quality products at highly competitive prices. Tobacco and beef are mainstays in West Kentucky, with the production of broilers, fruits and vegetables, wood products, green houses and nurseries growing annually.
West Kentucky products are regulated by six US institutions, helping area farmers
to maintain a climate of mutual trust and confidence with manufacturers,
producers, processors and retailers of its crops and produce.
Kentucky's commercial produce includes a variety of high quality fruits, vegetables and other edibles.
During 1995, the apple crop totaled more than 12.5 million pounds; peaches were at 5.3 million pounds;and, about 132,000 pounds of honey was produced.
West Kentucky produces the bulk of Kentucky's winter wheat. Ranking nineteenth in US production, West Kentucky counties produce annually more than 3 million bushels.
Kentucky ranks close to the top of the US production of corn for grain. All the top production counties are in the western region of the State, the average yield stands at over 110+ bushels per acre.
Soybean production totaled 41.4 million bushels in Kentucky during the late 1990's, putting the state 11th nationally.
Kentucky also produced 6 million bushels of barleyand 7.6 million bushels of sorghum for grain in 2000.
Poultry is a rapidly expanding industry in Western Kentucky. 250 million+ poultry were grown in Western Kentucky in 2000. 940 million eggs were also produced in Kentucky. Kentucky's major producers and processors are located in Western Kentucky.
Western Kentucky produced more than 800,000 head of hogs and pigs. West Kentuckians grew approx. 85% of the state's production. Sheep and lambs are also produced in Western Kentucky.
Western Kentucky produced more than 800,000 beef cows. The State's inventory of cattle & calves reached more than 2.7 million. Kentucky also produced 2 million (+) billion pounds of milk and 18 million pounds of cottage cheese curd.
Western Kentucky is extremely successful in growing a large number of high quality crops that can be used for forage. The state has produced more than 6 million tons (most coming from Western Kentucky farms). Over 300,000 acres of alfalfa were harvested, producing aapprox. 1.2 million tons of hay.
