FRANKFORT — Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles has announced the 2017 Kentucky Proud Promotional Grant Program has allocated all available funds for this calendar year.

“In Kentucky, we are lucky to have one of the most successful marketing programs in the nation, and that’s Kentucky Proud,” said Commissioner Ryan Quarles. “I’m happy to say promotional grant participation jumped 11 percent in 2017, meaning farm families and agriculture-related businesses continue to recognize the importance of being Kentucky Proud.”

The 2017 Kentucky Proud Promotional Grant Program awarded more than $500,000 to Kentucky Proud program members to assist with advertising and marketing expenses to increase direct Kentucky farm impact. The Promotional Point of Purchase (POP) Grant reimburses up to 50 percent of future eligible marketing expenses for businesses that can show a direct Kentucky farm impact.

 The application process for 2017 funding has been closed, but applications and guidelines for the 2018 program will be available in December at kyproud.com.

Due to the success of this year’s program, the Kentucky Department of Agriculture (KDA) is evaluating potential changes to the program in order to enhance and extend the program’s benefits to more Kentucky Proud members in the future. These potential changes aim to broaden the reach and availability of grants to expand this benefit to as many of the Commonwealth’s farm families and agriculture-related businesses as possible.

Kentucky Proud is the state’s official agricultural marketing program focused on enhancing opportunities for agriculture in the Commonwealth. Kentucky Proud enables consumers to recognize products that are grown, processed and/or manufactured in Kentucky. Kentucky Proud is funded by a grant from the Kentucky Agricultural Development Fund.

— Kentucky Department of Agriculture

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