Graves Leads in Farm Product Sales and Poultry; Christian, Daviess Crops Set Records

This is the fourth in a series of five stories taking a closer look at Kentucky statistics from the 2017 Census of Agriculture.

LOUISVILLE (June 17, 2019) — Barren, Christian, Daviess, Fayette, and Graves counties led in key agricultural statistics in 2017, the most recent Census of Agriculture revealed. The 2017 Census of Agriculture was conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), and released in April.

“The county figures in the Ag Census speak to the remarkable productivity of Kentucky’s farmers across much of the Commonwealth,” Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles said. “They demonstrate the strength, diversity, and resilience of Kentucky’s farm economy. They also show that there is plenty of room to grow.”

Among the Kentucky county highlights of the 2017 Census of Agriculture:

• Graves County led the Commonwealth with more than $346 million in value of agricultural products sold in 2017. Fayette County was second at $215.5 million, followed by Bourbon ($209.6 million), Christian ($205.3 million), and McLean ($190.8 million) counties.
• Christian County farmers grew nearly 15.6 million bushels of corn, a census record for a Kentucky county. The rest of the top five counties were Union (14.7 million bushels), Daviess (13.2 million), Graves (10.6 million), and Hickman (7.5 million).
• Daviess and Christian counties were 1-2 in soybean production with 5.6 million and 5.07 million bushels, respectively, becoming the first Kentucky counties to surpass 5 million bushels in the ag census. The next three counties were Henderson (4.6 million bushels), Graves (4.4 million), and Union (4.3 million).
• Top honors for tobacco production went to Christian County with 14.4 million pounds. Next were Barren (8.3 million), Calloway (7.3 million), Daviess (7.1 million), and Green (7 million).
• Christian County also led the way in production of winter wheat with 5.1 million bushels. Christian County was followed by Logan (3.5 million bushels), Todd (2.3 million), Simpson (1.6 million), and Graves (1.3 million) counties.
• Graves County produced nearly 51.4 million broilers in 2017 to lead the state, followed by McLean (29.3 million), Hickman (26.2 million), Webster (23 million), and Ohio (19.5) counties.
• Fayette County’s inventory of 12,661 equine led the state, followed by Bourbon (7,925) Woodford (6,925), Shelby (3,921), and Scott (3,848) counties.
• Barren County had the most cattle of any county in the state, 85,544, followed by Madison (68,283), Pulaski (63,261), Lincoln (52,990), and Bourbon (52,679) counties. Barren County led the state in both beef cows (37,087) and dairy cows (7,886).
• Hart County’s sheep inventory totaled 3,682 to lead the state. Next in line were Breckinridge County (2,788), Mercer County (2,292), Shelby County (2,115), and Pulaski County (2,097).
• Barren County had the most farms, 1,899, followed by Warren (1,755), Pulaski (1,704), Shelby (1,548), and Nelson (1,434) counties.
• Christian County had the most land in farms in 2017 – 345,581 acres. Five other counties had more than 250,000 acres in farms – Logan (276,309), Breckinridge (275,105), Warren (262,198), Barren (253,834), and Graves (251,192).
• The county with the largest average farm size was Union County at 689 acres. Fulton (669), Hickman (482), Henderson (394), and Martin (368) counties round out the top five.

The Census of Agriculture provides a detailed picture of U.S. farms and ranches every five years. It is the leading source of uniform, comprehensive agricultural data for every state and county or county equivalent. Census of agriculture data are routinely used by agriculture organizations, businesses, state departments of agriculture, elected representatives and legislative bodies at all levels of government, public and private sector analysts, the news media, and colleges and universities. To find out more about the Census of Agriculture, go to nass.usda.gov/AgCensus.

The NASS Kentucky field office is operated in cooperation with the Kentucky Department of Agriculture.

A horse is auctioned at the 2018 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale. Fayette County led the state in equine inventory in 2017. (Kentucky Department of Agriculture photo)