Kentucky dairy farmers, state program team up with Wal-Mart to create, promote in-state milk brand

A program in Kentucky is partnering farmers with a major retail chain to help promote local foods while returning money to local agriculture producers. Monday, Agriculture Commissioner James Comer unveiled Udderly Kentucky milk, which "is 100 percent sourced from Kentucky dairy farms and completely processed in Kentucky," and will be sold in 32 Wal-Mart stores in the central and southern parts of the state.

Comer said he hopes the program, which returns a 7-percent-per-gallon premium to every participating farmer, will revitalize the dairy industry in a state where the number of dairy farmers has dropped from 1,500 to around 800 in the last 13 years. Prairie Farms Dairy in Somerset, which processes the milk, is buying milk from 105 farmers.

 Udderly Kentucky milk is part of the state's 10-year-old Kentucky Proud program, which promotes buying food produced in the state. "This initiative has the potential for more direct farm impact than any program in Kentucky Proud history," Comer said. "A lot of people don’t know that milk that is processed in Kentucky may still be milk that is shipped in from surrounding states." (Read more)