Todd County Standard - Kentucky Press Association

AGRICULTURE
TODD COUNTY PUTS THE BUSINESS IN AGRIBUSINESS
BY CATHERINE DARNELL
TODD COUNTY STANDARD
It doesn’t take a genius to know that
there is a whole lotta farming going on in
Todd County.
Just look at the countryside of cattle,
hogs, wheat, soybeans and corn while
driving on a two-lane blacktop at 20
miles per hour behind some machine that
takes up the whole road. That should be
enough evidence.
And then there are numbers to back it
up. The whole of Todd County has
241,000 acres, according to a 2007
USDA census (that census is taken
every five years). Farmers have
197,976 acres at their disposal. Do the
math.
“We do live in a good location, a
productive environment agriculturally, ”
says Curt Judy, County Extension
Agent for Agriculture. “The folks here
have done a good job in maintaining
their soil. In recent history, some of our
soil types are the best in Kentucky.”
That report shows there were 759
farms here, with an average size of 261
acres, which is above the state average
of 164. On those acres, 70 percent are
cropped, 18 percent used as a woodland,
10 for pasture and 4 percent for
a mixed use.
The top crop is corn, with 48,390
acres in 2007 (eighth in the state) with
a 2009 estimate of 45,200, followed
by soy beans at 42,975 (tenth in the
state) with a 2009 estimate of 45,900,
then 15,010 of wheat in 2007 (with an
update estimate of 32,800 for 2009, a
huge jump), followed by acres of forage
and silage. In 2007, Tobacco ranked
fourth in the state at sales value by
commodity group with a 2009 estimate
of more than 20,000 acres of dark air,
burley and dark fired. The 2009 USDA
estimates for cattle, for all cattle and
calves, is 20,500.
About 34,000 people farmed full-time
in Todd County in 2007, with others
farming on a seasonal basis. The average
age of a farmer was 53.2 years.
Todd County is number one in the
state when it comes to layers/pullets in
Tobacco hangs in a barn between Kirkmansville and Allegre in Todd
County.
the chicken production and fourth in the
state in poultry and egg sales. Todd’s cattle
and calf-related sales value is fourth in
Kentucky.
The 2009 estimate numbers for cash
receipts from farm marketings has Todd
County at $146,086, ranking fifth in the
state in total receipts.
Makes you appreciate those horses
and buggies a little bit more.
46 DISCOVER TODD COUNTY Todd County Standard