Agriculture in Kentucky

Kentucky's bluegrass region contains the state's best farmland. By contrast, the agricultural potential of the Knobs region (which borders the Bluegrass region) is limited because of its inferior soil and steep topography. The Pennyrile is also a productive agricultural region. ==Agriculture in Kentucky's economy==

In Kentucky, farm employment makes up an estimated 0.7% of total employment, and the agricultural sector accounts for about 2% of Kentucky's GDP. Agriculture as a percentage of the state's GDP has declined over time; in 1963 agriculture accounted for an estimated 5% of the state's GDP. ==Agricultural products==

Kentucky's most important agricultural products in terms of cash receipts were poultry (22% of projected 2015 sales), equine (16%), cattle (16%), soybeans (13%) and corn (13%). Other products, including hogs, dairy, tobacco, goats, and horticulture, play smaller roles. Tobacco cultivation and production steadily declined in importance in the state, however, due to the New Deal's limitation of acreage, increased competition from other tobacco-producing states, and the increasing awareness of the negative health effects of tobacco from the 1970s onward. Kentucky is the United States' #1 producer of horses. Cattle are a billion-dollar-a-year industry. ==Department of Agriculture==

The Kentucky Department of Agriculture is a State agency responsible for regulating and promoting Kentucky agriculture. ==See also==

• Thomas D. Clark, "Agriculture" in The Kentucky Encyclopedia (ed. John E. Kleber: University Press of Kentucky, 1992). • Dennis L. Spetz, "Geography" in The Kentucky Encyclopedia (ed. John E. Kleber: University Press of Kentucky, 1992). ==External links==