Dave Maples: Thoughts from Dave

Dave Maples Executive Vice President

You can definitely tell that we are back to normal when it comes to in person meetings. Our calendar is full with field days, county meetings and every kind of meeting in between. There are a few of these events that need commenting on this month. The first is the Kentucky State Fair. Growing up I went to the fair to ride the rides and look at exhibits then I moved to the phase where I went to fairs to show cattle and now, I go to the fair for meetings. Growing up I never realized how many meetings and how much business is conducted at the Fair.

Day one of the Kentucky State Fair starts with the Kentucky Department of Agriculture’s Kentucky Proud Cookout breakfast where guests get treated to a free wonderful breakfast. This year is an election year so there were many politicians on hand. Following the breakfast, we had a meeting with Dean Nancy Cox about an update on the rebuild of the Princeton Research Station. As one would expect the rebuild from the tornado along with the insurance issues make the process difficult. One problem is that there are changes that could be made to the station to make it more efficient but the insurance will only pay for original replacement. It was good to know that the General Assembly has already appropriated funding to supplement the insurance for the rebuild of the Princeton Station. Following that meeting was the Kentucky Ag Council meeting where we got to hear from David Beck the President and CEO of the Kentucky Exposition Center. Mr. Beck is doing a very nice job managing the Kentucky Venues proprieties. Mr. Beck explained the vision and plans for the center in the coming years. The general assembly has invested several millions of dollars in the property and you can see the improvements. As Mr. Beck explained that at one time the Kentucky Venues properties returned funds to the state because they made money but that hasn’t happened for several years. Following all the meetings at the fair later that afternoon we had a meeting with Empire Foods at a Kroger store just outside the fairgrounds. Empire Foods is a third-party company that does work exclusively for Kroger. What we have learned is that if you are going to have a product on Kroger’s shelves you just about have to have a broker like Empire. I did not realize how much a company like Empire does to make the many Kroger stores work. We know and have had a relationship with many of the Empire employees for a long time. We have gotten to a point with Kentucky Cattlemen’s Ground Beef that we are going to have to have a company like Empire to be a broker for the product. The next morning was the Kentucky Agriculture Development Board meeting. I had to go to do some business with the Kentucky Cattlemen’s cooking booth but Nikki and Becky stayed for the meeting. The second week of the fair after the Farm Bureau Ham breakfast, the joint Senate/House Agriculture committee met followed by the Livestock Coalition meeting. That afternoon I attended the Final Drive and the selection of the Grand Champions of the different livestock species. This has become a really nice event for the young people that participate in the livestock shows. The Kentucky Fair board has created a Foundation that will work to provide funding for the different events during the fair. This is a good move for the fair board. The Ag Development Board made a one-million-dollar investment in this new Foundation. Over the coming years this could be a foundational move that could fund the different agriculture events during the fair. The next day the KCA executive committee meeting was held during the fair as well as the Beef Solutions, LLC managers meeting. While all these meetings were going on we managed a very nice educational booth as well as four cooking booths. Just to name a few of the other meetings or events that we have attended in the past week were the KCA budget committee meeting followed later in the afternoon by the Fayette County Farm Bureau elected officials’ appreciation dinner at the Kentucky Horse Park. This is a nice, well attended event every year. One of the things that I learned from one of the speakers is that the General Assembly appropriated $21 million dollars to the Horse Park this year. I knew there were several equine associations or related businesses located on the park but I didn’t realize there were 35. The next morning Carey Brown and I attended the annual CPC field day in Fountain Run, Kentucky. This is always a well-attended field day. What a success story just to see how their business has grown! We welcomed Hadley Celsor, one of our KCA fall interns to work the booth with us this year. The next morning Becky Thompson and I helped Dan Miller and Greg Cole along with Dr. Steve Higgins and Jeff Stephens work the Eden Shale cows and calves. I know you are thinking that is a lot of help but when the working facilities are what they are ,it takes more people than you really should have. Luckily no one or no animal got hurt. It was just like when I was at home during the Labor Day weekend when my family worked cows. The week finished with a wonderful Saturday night FFA Foundation Gala. This event has really come a long way from the start up days of Billy Ray Smith. Sheldon McKinney has done a remarkable job with the FFA Foundation. From what I hear this one event raised around $250,000 for Kentucky FFA.