LEXINGTON, Ky. — Blue Grass Stockyards, one of the largest stockyards in the eastern United States, is considered a total loss after a three-alarm fire that devastated the 10-acre property and surrounding businesses Saturday afternoon.

Fire officials were called to the stockyards around 2:20 p.m. and more than 100 firefighters were still fighting the blaze – which sent smoke so high that residents in Louisville reported seeing it – well into Sunday morning.

Blue Grass Stockyards, which is operated by Blue Grass Livestock Marketing Group, was preparing to host a large sale, but the group reported a loss of only about 25-30 cattle in the fire, which saw no employee injuries. At press time, the company was planning the sale as scheduled at their Mt. Sterling and Stanford, Ky., locations.

Representatives from the Kentucky Cattlemen’s Assoc. (KCA) predict cattle producers will start seeing the impact of the loss almost immediately. “The small producers around Lexington that use that facility, they will realize the effect first,” said David Lemaster, producer and president.

“The bigger producers who gathered a lot of cattle there to sell will all have to go to different facilities now,” he told Farm World, explaining some of the Blue Grass clients will now be selling at Mt. Sterling, the stockyard where he regularly sells.

Tim White, chair of the KCA and Region 1 vice president of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Assoc., sells the cattle from his Lexington farm at Blue Grass Stockyards, and will now join other area producers who are diverted to alternate Blue Grass locations. White told Farm World his biggest concern is the increase in transportation costs the diversion will force upon local producers.

From an industry standpoint, he echoed the feelings of Lemaster and expects if Blue Grass Stockyards is not rebuilt by peak season, the results could put pressure on the remaining facilities.

“Producer-wise, the biggest thing will be the logistics of getting cattle moved around and when we have the heavier runs of cattle, it will put more stress on the yards,” White said. “Things will be tighter, and we will have to put more cattle in fewer facilities when the rush season comes.”

Recently elected Kentucky Commissioner of Agriculture Ryan Quarles issued a statement saying his office was on hand to work with Blue Grass to keep the “chain of commerce running smoothly,” and called the loss a tragedy for Kentucky agriculture. “This is truly a sad day for Blue Grass Stockyards and the agricultural community,” he said. “A historic piece of Kentucky agriculture has been lost, but we are thankful to hear that all stockyard employees escaped the blaze without injury.”

The Lexington Fire Department stated they were aware of five nearby businesses that had either been damaged or destroyed. Several others up and down Forbes Road weren’t damaged, but had no utilities.

Producers can find information about upcoming sales on the Blue Grass Livestock Marketing Group website at www.bgstockyards.com

(Some information for this article was taken from reports by the Lexington Herald-Leader and WKYT-TV.)