With extreme drought severely impacting the Bluegrass State in 2012, farmers and growers looking forward would rightfully be concerned with the future of the state's agriculture. On Tuesday, Governor Steve Beshear, along with the Kentucky Ag Council (KAC), unveiled its 5-year strategic plan for agriculture called - Connecting: Strategies to Better Kentucky's Agricultural Economy and Rural Communities (2013-2018). December (year end report) showed that a total of $8 Billion dollars had been distributed due to crop loss all across the Midwest, according to the USDA's Federal Crop Insurance Corporation. Courtesy: ClimateCentral According to the USDA, Kentucky suffered the worst corn yields among the top 10 in 2012. The Bluegrass registered 50% below the average yield from 2002-2011 with only 68 bushels per acre. When I spoke to the Kentucky State Climatologist back during the late summer of 2012, he spoke of the Western side of the state suffering from the worst drought condi...
The views and expressions of Meteorologist and Storm Specialist Jennifer Rukavina in Paducah, KY.