James Barton, Jr. of Lexington, was recently laid to rest, leaving an incredible legacy to Kentucky agriculture.
Barton was a founding board member and president of KyCorn in the early 1980s and worked for the adoption of the Kentucky Corn Utilization Fund which was approved in 1991. He was appointed to the Kentucky Corn Promotion Council and served as financial agent for seven years and then chairman for 16 years until he retired at the end of 2013. He also served as secretary on the National Corn Growers Association Board of Directors, among other state and local farm organizations.
“I so enjoyed working with him and admired his dedication to the industry,” said Laura Knoth, KyCorn executive director. “He cared about grain farmers’ bottom lines and focused on making checkoff dollars work hard for the hard working farmers that contributed them. Mr. Barton believed in the mission of the corn growers organization at the state and national levels and talked with me regularly about how important it was for farmers to stay involved. He wanted the industry and the organization to grow and help young farmers have the kind of success in farming that he felt humbled to be able to have.”
Thank you, Jim, for your contribution to Kentucky agriculture.
Jim Barton with Kenneth Hayden at 1980s Corn Congress.