Each year, the Kentucky State Fair provides a valuable opportunity for Kentucky agriculture to engage with urban consumers, whose purchasing power is so important to the success of Kentucky’s corn industry. At this year’s Kentucky State Fair, which ran August 15-25, the Kentucky Corn Growers Association (KYCGA) premiered an engaging new booth inside the AgLand building to a record-breaking number of fairgoers. The new display highlighted that farms are owned and operated by families who are dedicated to caring for the environment while producing corn used in everyday consumer products.
Backdrop banners displayed visuals of Kentucky corn farmers and educated visitors on the products corn is used in. At the heart of the booth was a “corn and wheat pit” that became a popular attraction for younger fairgoers. Children played in the corn and wheat with toy tractors and dug through the grain while their parents enjoyed some respite in a thoughtfully placed seating area adjacent to two television screens.
One screen cycled through slides of over 40 Kentucky corn farmers, with family photos, details of the crops they grow, the conservation practices they employ, and candid insight into their proudest moments and why they love farming. In addition to the farmer features, the second screen played a loop of video footage showcasing corn’s lifecycle on real Kentucky farms. This footage also highlighted farmers’ year-round efforts to improve the health of the land and water. The video titled “A Corn Farmer’s Year” provided an in-depth look into the life of a corn farmer, following the entire journey of corn from planting and harvesting to its final destinations, which include animal feed, bourbon distilleries, ethanol production, and export markets.
Beyond visual stories, takeaway items were also provided about products derived from corn. These resources included a postcard flyer about the benefits of various ethanol blends and where to find ethanol. Another handout included details on how corn plays a significant yet often unseen role in daily life and its use in more than 4,000 products from food to fuel.
“The exhibit halls at the Kentucky State Fair are full of urban residents who still remember their experiences in rural communities,” explained Adam Andrews, KYCGA Programs Director. “Our main goal in the booth was to reconnect them with those experiences. So, the main theme was to explain that farmers are families. From there, we explained how farm families work hard, take pride in producing a crop that impacts everyone’s everyday life, and why they take significant measures to improve the land, air and water.”
The booth’s educational impact continued as it was spotlighted on a segment of the Listens Live show on WAVE 3 News. Farmer leaders Brandon Robey of Logan County and Jonathan Reynolds of Fulton County spoke about their experiences of raising their families on their farms. They also provided specific examples of how the crops they grow are utilized in everyday products. For instance, Robey explained that the wheat from his farm is supplied to Siemer Milling, which is then used in making McDonald’s biscuits – showcasing the link between agriculture and consumers.
Kentucky Corn’s messaging extended beyond AgLand and into The Great Kentucky Proud Cook Out Tent featuring locally sourced and fresh menu items from several Kentucky commodity groups in a family-friendly, picnic-style setting.
Notably, the Kentucky Corn Growers Corn Shack shared the message of Kentucky corn farmers with consumers while serving roasted sweet corn in cups adorned with a QR code to kycorn.org/itscorn/, a landing page dedicated to educating about corn’s role in everyday life. In addition, hand-popped Kentucky-grown popcorn was served in similar cups with the “Its Corn” QR Code, providing another opportunity to increase awareness of corn uses in everyday products.
“We know these efforts resonated,” said Andrews. “Through tangible results such as spikes in website traffic, television viewership, and countless direct interactions between farmer leaders and consumers at the food vendor booth and conversations with parents as their kids played in the grain. It was a great couple of weeks for carrying out our priority messages and achieving the mission of the Kentucky Corn Growers Association and the Kentucky Corn Promotion Council.”