Bureau president Eddie Melton offered some stark numbers in a hearing Thursday, telling lawmakers that the state has shed 1.4 million acres of farmland in the last two decades. The last five years of data alone show Kentucky losing around 4 percent of farmland and roughly 6,500 farmers.
And Melton said the rate is increasing.
"If you really get down the crunch in the numbers and you say 500,000 acres over a five year period, if you break that down, that's 291 acres every day or 12 acres an hour," he said, citing USDA number.
A number of factors, including the breakup of family farms and rising costs for first time farmers are said to be contributing.
In response, the Farm Bureau launched the Kentucky Farmland Transition Initiative, in part to raise awareness of the trend, but also to connect farmers who are retiring or selling land with buyers who intend to keep the farms alive. The effort is also working to determine how existing state and federal policy can help preserve farmland.
Should the current rate of loss continue, the Bureau says the total number of Kentucky farmers would be cut in half in about 60 years.