Kentucky ranks seventh in the United States in number of farms within it’s borders, with Christian County making up no small part of that number, and the farmers that make the county so successful were celebrated at the 2026 Salute to Agriculture breakfast Tuesday morning.
The Silo Event Center was packed full, with folks from all avenues of agriculture present, including Kentucky Ag. Commissioner Jonathan Shell, who called Christian County the center of agriculture in the Commonwealth. Farmers here routinely claim the top spots in the state, including in 2024, when Christian County was number one in wheat and corn production, and fourth in soybeans.
Outside of production, Shell says farmers could pave the way towards a more sustainable, independent future, particularly where it comes to innovations with fuel.
He says agriculture plays a role in nearly every facet of life, not just with food, but also to water conservation, economic development, health and medicine and childhood education.
Several awards were handed out at the event, including the Agri-Business of the Year, which was awarded to Bolinger Real Estate and Auction. The Friend of Agriculture Award went to Terry Martin, who had some words of wisdom to those in attendance—don’t give up, even when it gets hard.
Wesley Parker was named the 2026 Christian County Farmer of the Year, and that’s a title he’s no stranger to, having won the 2021 Kentucky Farm Bureau Farmer of the Year Award and named the 2022 Kentucky Farmer of the Year by the Sunbelt Ag. Expo. Parker says this award is special, however, as he has called Christian County home his whole life and has farmed here for the last 45 years.
This event also acts as a fundraiser for the Troy Goode Memorial Scholarship through the Rotary Club of Hopkinsville, and after some furious bidding that quickly climbed in price, the country ham was bought by H&R Agri-Power for $12,000. Six scholarships were handed out Tuesday morning to area agriculture students.
