Sierra Enlow
Democratic candidate for Kentucky agriculture commissioner Sierra Enlow said she has had an eye on the post since she was a teen.
“This has always been an office that I’ve wanted to run for, ever since I was in high school,” said Enlow, who grew up on a multigenerational family farm in LaRue County. “(I was) in FFA (Future Farmers of America), 4-H. I served as FFA president in my local chapter, and I set it (agriculture commissioner) as a goal as a young high school student.”
The office has power to help Kentuckians statewide, Enlow said.
“Not just our rural Kentucky residents, but our urban Kentucky residents, as well,” Enlow said. “I also think we have not necessarily applied business experience to the work the commissioner of agriculture has done in the way that we should and moving forward. Now that I’ve had some experience away from the farm and on the farm, working with different agriculture groups, I really wanted to bring that expertise to the office.”
The focus, Enlow said, is ensuring Kentucky agriculture products get from the farm to the corporate supply chain.
“That’s really where Kentucky farmers need help,” Enlow said. “It really allows us to spend some time on how we can continue to grow the economy in Kentucky. When we think about economic development projects and we’re looking at attracting food manufacturers, we have to have those supply chains in place to make sure that we’re providing the best financial background and economic ecosystem for farms.”
This is where the commissioner of agriculture has the largest capacity to do good work and impact the state, Enlow said.
“Food access and working to improve food access across the state is a very important role that your commissioner of agriculture should be actively involved in,” Enlow said.
It is more than addressing food access in places commonly thought of as food deserts, such as west Louisville, Enlow said. She said it also calls for looking at places such as Trimble County and other rural Kentucky counties that don’t have access to grocery stores.
Strengthening emergency response functions amid natural disasters is also essential to the office, Enlow said.
“Natural disasters are becoming more frequent, and every time we have a natural disaster, we have to deploy state veterinarians to make sure that our livestock is safe and secure and make sure that people’s pets are taken care of,” Enlow said. “That’s a function a lot of people don’t think about in that specific circumstance, but it’s increasingly vital to the state of Kentucky.”
Key issues related to the agriculture commissioner seat differ with different parts of the state, Enlow said, adding that it requires flexibility and viewing matters from different lenses.
“In a lot of ways, we’ve told Kentucky farmers to raise one crop or another over the years and haven’t said, ‘Hey, let’s make sure that there’s a market, a wholesaler, a processor or retail outlet before we tell you to grow it,'” Enlow said. “We just can’t keep selling fairy tales to Kentucky farmers, because a lot of farmers have invested a lot of money and have not had productive outcomes.”
Northern Kentucky is poised to be a particularly successful industry for controlled-environment agriculture, Enlow said.
“You’re starting to see it with some different facilities already in the Northern Kentucky area, but also because it’s a prime economic development industrial area,” Enlow said, adding that raising crops with controlled inputs is a game-changer. “It’s even more expedited, because we wrote the medical marijuana legislation to be all raised in controlled-ag facilities.”
Northern Kentucky will be an area that is a big topic of conversation over the next decade within the Kentucky agriculture realm, Enlow said.
“Fruits and vegetables is one (area) that is talked about first and something that needs to be part of the conversation. We have a lot of natural resources, particularly in the water space, allowing us to be attractive to companies looking at options that are not on the West Coast,” Enlow said.
The local base is essential to Kentucky’s agricultural success, Enlow said.
“I’m talking about us making sure we can get Kentucky corn and Kentucky rye straight from the farm and put it into a distillery operation,” Enlow said. “We need connectivity on a very sustainable scale to provide solid incomes for our farmers and other rural Kentucky residents.”
Enlow said she envisions providing Kentucky farmers with new opportunities from an agriculture market perspective and then solidifying the local food conversation in a way that it has not been talked about before.
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Sierraenlow.jpg: Sierra Enlow is the Democratic candidate seeking the Kentucky agriculture commissioner seat. Photo provided | Sierra Enlow
Jonathan Shell
Republican candidate for Kentucky agriculture commissioner Jonathan Shell is a fifth-generation farmer who said he has firsthand knowledge of challenges the agriculture industry faces.
“From livestock to flowers to pumpkins, I’ve been in the field with all sorts of commodities,” Shell, a former member of the Kentucky House of Representatives, said in an email response to LINK nky questions. “I will combine real-world experience with my background in public service. I’ve worked hard to build relationships in the agribusiness community across the state, which will serve the department well.”
The state’s signature industries, horses and bourbon, are agriculture-based, Shell said.
“Our culture, our communities and many generations of Kentucky families have ties to agriculture,” Shell said. “This is who we are, and I am so proud to be part of that legacy. I want to preserve and grow agriculture for future generations and safeguard a way of life under attack from Washington and other people who simply look down on us.”
The Kentucky agriculture commissioner should serve as a supporter and defender of the state’s farmers and rural communities, Shell said.
“I have a lifetime of relationships and experience in this industry, and I can work with the Legislature to get big things done for our producers,” Shell said. “I’ll also fight every day against the radical overreach coming out of Washington. I want to help folks get ahead and will use the office to do that.”
A key issue the office needs to address is excessive federal regulation, Shell said.
“We’re all anxious about what (President) Joe Biden and his out-of-touch federal bureaucrats are doing to our economy,” Shell said. “They’re waging a war on farmers, just like they did to our coal miners. And all Kentuckians are going to feel the effects.”
The Waters of the United States regulation would have empowered the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate every ditch, pond and puddle on a farmer’s property – making it impossible to grow crops and raise livestock, Shell said.
Northern Kentucky farmers feel like they cannot win in the Biden economy, Shell said.
“They need an experienced, common-sense conservative to promote agriculture and stop the radical overreaches from Washington,” Shell said. “I’m the only candidate in this race who has the relationships in Northern Kentucky and across the commonwealth to protect our rural communities.”
Strong relationships with state agricultural associations, universities and decision-makers will aid in bolstering the state’s agricultural profile, Shell said, adding that he is the sole candidate capable of working productively with state lawmakers to advance Kentucky agriculture.
“It will take a team effort to grow our agriculture economy, especially in the middle of Joe Biden’s record inflation,” Shell said. “I consider myself in the same mold as the two previous commissioners, (James) Comer and (Ryan) Quarles – a team player who can work the system and take advantage of opportunities.”
