VERSAILLES, Ky. – The Kentucky Cattlemen’s Association (KCA) recently broke ground for the Kentucky Livestock Innovation Center in Versailles. The new facility will be complete by fall 2027.

The center was made possible through a two-year, $22 million appropriation from the Kentucky General Assembly to the Kentucky Cattlemen’s Foundation in April. This appropriation was passed in House Bill 1, which funded several one-time infrastructure products from the state’s budget reserve trust fund.

“The Kentucky Livestock Innovation Center will help local producers with the industry’s challenges and be a hub for research and education,” said Nikki Whitaker, director of operations and policy at KCA.

Located on 15 acres at the University of Kentucky’s C. Oran Little Research Center in Versailles, the center is a unique public-private partnership between the KCA and the University of Kentucky Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment (CAFÉ).

“The idea for this project began five years ago,” Whitaker said. “It started out as a long-range plan and developed with our livestock industry across Kentucky. This center will be an education, research, innovation, marketing, value-added – almost a one-stop shop for the livestock industry in Kentucky.

“Kentucky has a long history of agriculture, and we have 74,000 small businesses, which are our farms in Kentucky. The goal of the Livestock Innovation Center is to keep those small businesses in business. Those are our farm families and we want to see them grow with all of the advancements in technology and to help those producers stay active on their own farms.”

The facility will serve as the central coordinating location for advancing livestock and agricultural production within Kentucky and around the eastern United States. To accomplish this, center staff will work with industry and university partners to find innovation answers to industry challenges, increase producer marketing opportunities and net farm income, support the next generation of producers and improve the sustainability of the industry.

Whitaker says the center will benefit producers, processors, consumers, students, employers, health professionals, livestock owners, and food and retail professionals.

“This facility is an outreach,” Whitaker said. “We’ll have a Culinary Training Center, which will help increase consumer demand for value-added products and provide education and workforce development opportunities for employees in food processing, manufacturing, restaurant and retail industries. One of our largest audiences are those health care professionals and we’ll bring them to our farms to see where our food comes from, so they can help meet the needs of their communities better.

“We’ll also be an education center where we’ll have conferences for students and adults alike. There will be workshops for certified training. Finally, we’ll have private industry offices where we will work with other industries to get better programming.”

Currently, there is no central space where the power of Kentucky agriculture is highlighted. The center aims to advance, support and communicate continuous improvement of livestock production.

“It’s really unbelievable to be at this point and imagine all the partnerships and possibilities that are in front of us,” said Jeff Pettit, KCA president. “I really think this center will impact producers all over the eastern U.S. and make us a hub for protein production across the region. It truly has something for everyone, from the largest production farmer to the hobby farmer who wants to produce their own meat.”

Agriculture is vital to Kentucky as farm families in the state are responsible for $111.3 billion of economic output. More than half of Kentucky land is farmland, and more than 684,547 jobs are related to the food and agriculture sector in the Commonwealth. Kentucky ranks sixth in the nation for number of farms.

According to USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service data, Kentucky’s livestock industry accounted for more than $3.5 billion in receipts in 2021, more than half of Kentucky’s $6.9 billion in agriculture receipts. With the addition of the Kentucky Livestock Innovation Center, officials say those numbers will increase.

“This facility will be designed to benefit our producers by assisting them with new communication technology and research from the farm to help them become more profitable and their operations more sustainable, not just in the immediate future but for future generations,” said Dr. David Williams, chairman of the Kentucky Cattlemen’s Foundation and the center’s construction oversight committee.

This project also has support from the Kentucky Pork Producers, Kentucky Soybean Board, Kentucky Poultry Foundation, Kentucky Dairy Development Council, Kentucky Corn Growers Association, Kentucky Sheep and Goat Development Office, Kentucky Horse Council, Kentucky Department of Agriculture and Kentucky Farm Bureau.