By TIM THORNBERRY
Kentucky Correspondent

NICHOLASVILLE, Ky. — In 10 years, the Kentucky Agricultural Development Fund (KADF) has invested $300 million in more than 3,600 projects helping to maintain approximately $4 billion in annual cash receipts from the state’s agriculture sector.

A unique feature of the KADF has been the diversity of the projects it has funded and one agriculture sector that has benefited greatly is the wine and vineyard industry. Once prominent in Kentucky, the state now has over 113 grape producers growing 583 acres of grapes, of which 280 acres are ready for production. There are also over 60 small farm wineries in the commonwealth, according to the Kentucky Department of Agriculture.

While the growth has not been overnight, it has bloomed remarkably fast as many farmers have looked for diversity projects and other interested parties have gotten into the business.
The Kentucky Vineyard Society notes that in 1990 “legislation set up a Grape Industry Advisory Committee (GIAC). Through the efforts of the GIAC, a Kentucky Farm Winery Law was enacted with favorable provisions for establishing wineries. As a result, four wineries were initiated that year. In the 1992, 1994, and 1996 sessions of the Kentucky legislature, further modifications to Kentucky laws were enacted to encourage viticulture.”

Information from the society also states that during the 1998 legislative session, Kentucky set aside a half-million dollars for promotion of viticulture by way of a two-year grant provided for a viticulturist at Murray State University. Additionally, “a matching grant program was established to encourage new vineyards. Growers could apply for reimbursement for half of vineyard establishment costs, up to $1,500 per acre with a limitation of 10 acres.”

Finally in 2000, the General Assembly changed winery statutes by defining Kentucky wineries as value-added agricultural operations and the stage was set to bolster the industry into a major player in the state’s agriculture industry.

“The Kentucky Agricultural Development Fund sparked the resurgence of Kentucky’s grape and wine industry,” said Roger Thomas, executive director of the governor’s office for agricultural policy, which oversees the fund. “The investments made in technical assistance, production and infrastructure are examples of sound investments that facilitated the diversification of our industry.”

Funds benefit local vineyards
Chrisman Mill Vineyard and Winery, located in Jessamine County, is an example of one of the state’s many vineyards that has used ag development funds to rejuvenate an age-old tradition.
Owners Chris and Denise Nelson run the business like many farmers do, as a family agriculture endeavor.

Chris’s love of wine and winemaking began while attending medical school in Texas and escalated after a trip to California’s wine country. After coming to Lexington in 1996 as a pediatric physician at Kentucky Children’s Hospital, he and his wife began to look for a farm where he could begin his career as a winemaker.

As luck would have it, the location they found just happened to be in the same area in which the first commercial vineyard in the country was established in 1799.

“We’ve been very proud to know that we are in a place where grapevines were cultivated in the earliest days of this country,” said Nelson.

In fact, Kentucky would become the third largest producer of grapes and wine in the U.S. by the 1870s. With more than 100 wineries and/or vineyards across the state today, an historic culture continues to grow again.

“It is not our ambition at Chrisman Mill to become a large winery, but we want to help people remember that rich history,” said Nelson
Chrisman Mill has grown nicely to the point of producing about 8,000 gallons a year with 100 percent of their grape wines coming from Kentucky grapes. The business also utilizes grapes from 10 to 12 other growers in their area. The business includes a commercial kitchen for events and weddings.

Nelson said ag development funds have not only helped his business, but others that have transcended into the industry keeping their family farming tradition intact.

“It’s one of the reasons we’re proud to support Kentucky growers because a lot of them wouldn’t have had the finances to do it but with the ag development funds they were able to subsidize and put in their vineyards,” he said.

Nelson added that by purchasing other Kentucky grapes, they were able to get a direct credit on their own KADF forgivable loan. That money went to purchase needed equipment including the “key” purchase of a bladder press and netting for their vines to keep out birds.

“I think a big success for the Kentucky ag development program has been the vineyards,” he said. “A lot of them are very small farms and formerly did tobacco. Like grapes, it could be done on small, patch farms; you don’t have to have a huge operation to be profitable. A lot of them, faced with what was happening to tobacco, just decided to go to grapes instead.”

Nelson noted that grape vineyards have done well here just as they did in pre-prohibition.