Festival spotlights agricultural dominance

By MELANIE THOMAS
Glasgow Daily Times

GLASGOW April 27, 2007 01:25 pm

— The Cattleman’s Festival will take over the Public Square on Saturday to honor Barren County’s agricultural dominance.
The event will be from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. It is sponsored by the Barren County Cattleman’s Association and Glasgow Lions Club.
The festival is recognizing Barren County’s command over agriculture in Kentucky and taking top honors as “Best place to live in rural America.”
“This is a time to celebrate the culmination of things we have been number one in,” said Tommy High, president of the Barren County Cattleman’s Association. “Agriculture is a big thing to Barren County.”
There will be different types of exhibitors on the square, including feed suppliers, auto dealers, and tractor and farm equipment. The Homemaker’s Association will be having a bake sale to satisfy sugar cravings.
There will also be an antique tractor display, the FFA students will be displaying projects and a there will be a “Guess how much the bull weighs” contest.
A bull lease auction is scheduled for 2 p.m. Farmers will be able to lease a bull for a three-month period.
“All of the producers in the county are hard workers,” High said. “They take a lot of pride in what they do.”
Barren County leads the state in cattle and calves, beef cow and dairy production, according to statistics from the National Agriculture Statistics Service. It is also a major producer in forage, such as alfalfa.
Barren County is seated in the No. 1 spot in many areas, including being named by The Progressive Farmer magazine “Best Place to Live in Rural America.”
The expansive farming community, education system and hospital were three areas the magazine’s editors were impressed with.
“Barren County is number one in so many ways,” said Mindy McCulley, Barren County Extension Agent for family consumer services. “There’s no way we could survive as a county without agriculture.”