Specialty crops are be­­ginning to replace tobacco as a hallmark of Kentucky’s agriculture sector with help from a state program redirecting dollars from a multi-billion dollar tobacco settlement to help beginning farmers. Iowa Farm Bureau county leaders caught a glimpse of Kentucky’s transformation away from the tobacco economy July 6-10 during the 2021 Iowa Farm Bureau Presidents’ Incentive Trip to the Bluegrass State.

Tobacco was a $1 billion in­dustry in Kentucky in 1998, ac­­counting for 25% of the state’s farm cash receipts. Today, the state’s tobacco cash receipts are...