Earlier this month, the Kentucky Cattlemen's Association testified in front of lawmakers in Frankfort about the loss of farmland and beef cattle in the state in 2020.

Kentucky had more than a million, and now in 2026, there are about 860,000.

We recently caught up with the president of the Kentucky Livestock Coalition, and he talked to us about the current state of the industry and what he thinks Kentucky farmers need to be successful moving forward.

The Kentucky livestock industry certainly is braced for future opportunities, but in a lot of ways, we're also at a crossroads.

You have many smaller ag producers.

You also have younger producers who are making large investments, in particular in the poultry industry and the swine industry.

And often those are very scaled.

And the investment is into the millions of dollars, all the often required to be competitive livestock producers are often operating on very tight margins and always, looking for better opportunities in the market.

I think the biggest challenge that is facing, livestock producers and farmers in general and even business in general, is just production costs are higher.

Everything's related to fuel cost.

We're looking at higher labor costs.

We are looking at, higher feed cost.

I would like to see, our let our, lawmakers make sure that we have policies that do not limit opportunity for both export markets and for opportunities to get in front of local consumers.

We need to make sure that we're not putting up barriers that favor, large meatpackers or that favor large corporations.

There's a balance we certainly need to have rules in place.

Food safety is paramount.

We want to make sure that we're not doing anything that, keeps us from having the highest standard for food safety and for them delivering a quality product to consumers.

We have millions of folks in this country, millions of folks around the world that have to eat.

Not everybody can buy directly from the farmer.

We need to have ways where we deliver the product at the very cheapest price and on large scale to the to the consumer.

We also need opportunities for those who want to go direct to the farm.

And that's what we truly need is policy that helps us accomplish both and doesn't build barriers that prevent choice.

As a Kentucky farmer, I'm really excited about what the future holds.

And I have three sons on my farm.

I want them to have an opportunity to be the 10th generation in my family to farm one day in LaRue County, where we live.

Kentucky farmers are the best in the world, and if we have a level playing field in regards to trade, we're going to win because we produce the safest, the cheapest and the best food in the world.

You can hear it in his headphones.

In August, President Trump announced a plan to import up to 300,000 metric tons of beef from other countries to lower beef prices.

Since then, many groups have spoken out against it, including the Kentucky Cattlemen's Association and the Kentucky Farm Bureau.