BURLINGTON, Ky. — There is no doubt that farming is one of the toughest jobs on the planet; just ask a farmer. But for those who feed the world, most will tell you, there’s nothing else they’d rather do.

Doing that job can be made easier with a network of friends and family who work together and understand the tradition that comes along with being a farm family.

Nowhere was that more evident than at the recent Boone County Fair’s 4-H Sale of Champions, where farm families from all across the county gather to celebrate their children, their farming heritage and the chance to be one big family.

During the post-show meal, four lifelong farming friends gathered together for an interesting conversation about farming and family. 

Danny Cupps, his brother Michael Hogan and lifelong friends David Conrad and Jim Walton grew up together and have a real love for farming and family. The four have farming operations in Boone and nearby Bourbon counties and will tell you there’s nothing else like it 

Cupps, whose children have been active in 4-H, the fair and the family farm most of their lives, lives the dream every day. 

“We grow corn, soybeans, tobacco and cattle – but we raise children,” he said.

His children Cassidy, Jeremiah and Blair, along with wife Sandy, help “grow” about 1,250 acres of corn and soybeans and 100 acres of tobacco on their very traditional farm, not to mention all the animals the children raise for their 4-H and FFA activities.

The Cupps are indicative of what family farming is all about in Kentucky. Of the more than 85,000 farms in Kentucky, most are family owned and operated. 

Take for instance those farms that grow corn. According to information from the Kentucky Corn Growers Assoc., 95 percent of those are family farms and most of the rest are partnerships between family members.

True of tobacco, too

The same is true about tobacco farms. Despite a downturn in the number of farmers growing the crop, it has always been a traditional staple of the farm, no matter the size.

Cupps said his father always raised tobacco, and it’s still profitable even though it tightened up a little this year with labor and all the other expenses up.

Hogan said the tobacco crop this year looks good as late season rains have made it “explode.” That may or may not play well to buyers come harvest time. Burley stocks have been tight over the last two seasons, but still contracts have been cut back.

Hogan said his contracts were cut back by around 20 percent, and he’s not sure why. All the more reasons farmers have to bring a lot of different abilities to the table when it comes to running a business. 

“In the long term, it really makes me feel uneasy because I’m one of the young farmers who wants to grow tobacco, and there aren’t many of us out there,” he said. “Most of the tobacco farmers are older and ready to quit anyway, so I don’t know really where they (tobacco companies) expect to get their tobacco.” 

Vagaries of the market

Cupps said the markets don’t always follow the fundamentals but rather sometime are dictated through speculation. 

A recent commentary on the GRACE Communications Foundation website made the assessment that a “handful of corporations – producers of seeds, processors of meat and milk, and grocery retailers – now dominate most aspects of the food system, giving them enormous power to control markets and pricing, and enabling them to influence food and agricultural regulations.”

The commentary went on to say that rural communities and small family farms get hurt in this process.

“Among the hidden costs of industrial food production are its effects on small family farms and rural communities, which include the loss of nearly 4 million farms in the United States since the 1930s,” the commentary noted.

GRACE works to bring awareness to many environmental issues, including the support of sustainable food systems.

Agriculture in Kentucky, however, has embraced the smaller farmer because of strong support from entities like the Kentucky Agricultural Development Board, which has invested millions of tobacco settlement dollars into the agriculture sector to help farmers diversify as markets change.

Cupps said the state also has a comprehensive extension network to help farmers with nearly every aspect of their operations.

Conrad said the general public, for the most part, doesn’t have a clue where their food comes from, and it’s vital to educate them.

“They don’t know about the safety of the food they’re eating. Many of them just think it comes from the grocery store,” Hogan said. “As far as the production goes, we’re the most productive farmers on earth. We’re going to produce the food, even the younger farmers, because we have the technology, the ground and the ability.”

Walton said he grew up raising tobacco and beef but got away from farming for a while.

Now with his children’s’ activities in 4-H, he has come back.

“We’re building up a herd of cattle again and actually raised a little tobacco partially because they wanted to,” he said. 

Traditionally speaking, all say their farms are based on tobacco and they have a love for growing the crop.

Cupps shared the fact that his father, who is 79, has raised a tobacco crop since he was 15 years old except for the time he was in the service. He still works in the crop with him today.

But that should come as no surprise to real farm families.