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Kentucky farm economy to see record cash receipts for second consecutive year
LOUISVILLE, Ky. , (Dec 4, 2008)

Though the increase in farm cash receipts for 2008 won't match 2007's double-figure increase, it will rise 7 percent to $4.7 billion, continuing a two-year record-breaking trend. Agricultural economists with the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture predict the overall cash receipts for 2009 will decline slightly.

"What we've seen this year is that gross income improvements are being driven from the crop side, rather than from the animal side," said Economist Lee Meyer. "Historically livestock have contributed about two-thirds to farm cash receipts."

Meyer, and fellow economists Kenny Burdine, Craig Infanger, Larry Jones, Will Snell, Cory Walters and Tim Woods presented an overview and outlook of the Kentucky farm economy as part of the annual Kentucky Farm Bureau Federation conference in Louisville.

Though Kentucky's farm economy still leans toward the animal side, the estimated livestock receipts of $2.7 billion, about 57 percent of the total receipts, showed a decline this year, probably due to effects of the drought and overall lower prices for horses and cattle.

"As the economy has weakened, we've seen demand go down," he said. "A lot of the beef market is driven by restaurants, the high end cuts especially.  So as restaurants get hurt by the economy, which is where people...
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