Ryan Quarles: Commisioners Corner

With August Here, You Know What That Means: The Kentucky State Fair is Here!

Ryan Quarles Commissioner of Agriculture

If you remember, the Kentucky State Fair Board voted last year to approve a reasonable and responsible plan to have a 2020 fair that respected public health guidelines but also preserved the ability of our young people to participate in livestock shows. As Commissioner of Agriculture, I believed it was important to give our youth the opportunity to show off what they had learned over the course of 2020.

Thankfully, with widespread vaccine access and public health restrictions being lifted, I am excited that the 2021 Kentucky State Fair will look a lot more like the fair we had in 2019 than the one that took place in 2020. Our livestock shows are back, AgLand is going to be open, and there are plenty of free concerts for the public to enjoy. Between the delicious Kentucky Proud products available at the Kentucky Cookout Tent and the Kentucky Farm Bureau Country Ham Breakfast, you can also expect to eat well at the Kentucky State Fair. Under the leadership of Kentucky Venues President and CEO David Beck and Kentucky State Fair Board Chairman Mark Lynn, and thanks to investment from the state legislature, there have been significant improvements to the fair and the Kentucky Expo Center. We recently announced an early-bird ticket special, which makes this fair the most affordable to attend in a decade. If you buy your ticket before August 6

online, attendance only costs $8 and includes

free parking. With a new main gate and renewed and renovated facilities, the Expo Center is truly becoming a place to be proud of – and a place where Kentuckians from all backgrounds come together. Of course, many of the fair’s traditions remain, and as always, the Kentucky Department of Agriculture will be on hand to check the health papers of animals entering the fairgrounds, conduct the livestock shows, check the amusement rides, and perform numerous other services to help you have a successful and enjoyable fair. My office at the fair will remain in the West Hall, and I invite everyone to drop by and say hello. This year’s fair is set to run from August 19 to August 29. I hope to see you there!

SR 100 GII SERIES SPEEDRAKE® Wheel Rakes

18’10” - 23’4” working widths • 8-,10- and 12-wheel models

SIMPLICITY. VERSATILITY. QUALITY.

Independently adjust windrow widths to match crop pickup widths Superior terrain following without the need for hydraulic float Rear wheels raise last for cleaner windrow ends Fast, easy switching between transport and field positions

Riverside Tractor & Equipment Augusta Sanford and Sons Sales & Service Bowling Green Holbrook Implement Campton Wright Implement 1

Kentucky Bardstown, Campbellsville, DeMossville, Elizabethtown, Florence, Glasgow, Hardinsburg, Owensboro, Shelbyville, Shepherdsville

Indiana Charlestown, Corydon, Orleans, Seymour Siler Implement Corbin Meade Tractor Danville, Georgetown, Harlan, London, Mt. Sterling, Paris, Richmond, Somerset Rose Farm Supply Flemingsburg Lawson Tractor & Implement Lebanon, Sanford McKeel Equipment Murray L. A. Yount Haying Equipment Pleasureville

Bridgeport Equipment & Tool Wurtland

INVEST IN QUALITY ® Visit your local Kentucky KUHN dealer today!

KuhnNorthAmerica.com