Appalachia Proud, Kentucky's emerging industrial hemp industry, and the Commonwealth's innovative young farmers are among the subjects covered in the recently published 2015 edition of Kentucky Proud Magazine.

"This is an exciting time to be involved in Kentucky agriculture," state Agriculture Commissioner James Comer wrote in the magazine. "Our diversification efforts of the past several years are paying off. Cash receipts for Kentucky farm products in 2013 were estimated at a record $6 billion. And whereas in the past Kentucky's farm economy was heavily dependent on horses and tobacco, today Kentucky farmers are engaged in a wide variety of agricultural endeavors ranging from high-volume production of row crops, livestock, and poultry to niche enterprises designed to take advantage of the booming local food movement."

The annual report on Kentucky agriculture contains stories on the continuing growth of the Kentucky Proud farm marketing program, Kentucky's veterinary diagnostic laboratories, the Commonwealth's growing fruit and vegetable industry, equestrian competitions, and heritage breeds. Ray Allan Mackey of Elizabethtown, the Swisher Sweets/Sunbelt Farmer of the Year for Kentucky, is profiled in the magazine. The publication leads off with Commissioner Comer's comments and a progress report on Kentucky agriculture.

Copies of Kentucky Proud magazine will be available at agricultural trade shows throughout Kentucky and may be obtained by contacting the Kentucky Department of Agriculture at ag.web@ky.gov or (502) 573-0282. To view the magazine online, go to http://farmflavor.com/us-ag/kentucky/