KY Department Of Agriculture

The Kentucky Department of Agriculture, operating as Agricultural Marketing & Product Promotion, is a U.S. state government entity that receives federal grant funding as a prime recipient across thirteen federal agencies, with 322 total awards spanning the past five years and a combined obligated value of $169.3 million. The department operates exclusively as a grant recipient under formula grants, block grants, cooperative agreements, and project grants; it does not hold federal contracts or serve as a subrecipient.

The Department of Agriculture dominates the customer base, with the Food and Nutrition Service, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), and Agricultural Marketing Service collectively accounting for over 85 percent of recent awards. Within Food and Nutrition Service, Kentucky administers multiple food assistance programs including the Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) Administrative Costs (CFDA 10.568), the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP, CFDA 10.565), the Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program (SFMNP, CFDA 10.576), and State Administrative Expenses for Child Nutrition (CFDA 10.560). Representative recent awards include a $3.2 million formula grant for CSFP food and administrative funds (FY 2025–26), a $1.3 million TEFAP administrative grant (FY 2025–26), and a $671 thousand Child Nutrition Division administrative grant (FY 2025–27). Under APHIS, Kentucky holds recurring cooperative agreements for animal disease surveillance, traceability, and control—including animal disease umbrella agreements, swine health programs, and RFID tag distribution for livestock identification. Recent APHIS work includes $235 thousand for animal disease traceability (FY 2026–27) and $219 thousand for the animal health umbrella initiative (FY 2025–26).

The Agricultural Marketing Service funds specialty crop promotion and development through block grants (CFDA 10.170) and cooperative agreements supporting market news, meat grading, farm-to-school programs, and local food purchase assistance. A $345 thousand Specialty Crop Block Grant (September 2025–September 2028) funds six sub-awarded projects across twelve crops. Kentucky also manages a $3.2 million Local Food for Schools Program cooperative agreement (November 2022–April 2025), which sub-awards to school districts to purchase local foods from small and socially disadvantaged producers. The Environmental Protection Agency Region 4 funds pesticide inspection and enforcement through the Performance Partnership Grants program (CFDA 66.605), with a $245 thousand award (FY 2025–28) supporting over 20,000 inspection hours annually, training and certification of pesticide applicators, and compliance monitoring. Additionally, the National Institute of Food and Agriculture funded a $559 thousand Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network project (September 2021–August 2023) addressing farmer mental health and suicide prevention.

Award volume has remained relatively stable over the past five years, ranging from fourteen awards in 2024 to twenty-one in 2022, with sixteen awards facing completion within the next twenty-four months, indicating potential recompete activity. The department has subaward obligations in specialty crop, farm-to-school, and local food programs, passing federal funds to universities, research institutions, school districts, and non-profit organizations. Across all work, the division functions as the designated state administering agency for federal food and nutrition programs, managing infrastructure for food distribution, livestock traceability, and agricultural marketing while delivering oversight, training, and compliance support to sub-recipients and local providers throughout Kentucky.