About Us

The Generation Bridge Advocate of the Year Award recognizes a Kentucky Farm Bureau member between the ages of 36-49 for their outstanding efforts in advocacy for agriculture. The award will be presented at the Kentucky Farm Bureau Annual Meeting in December at the Galt House.

Kentucky Farm Bureau members can nominate any Kentucky Farm Bureau member between the ages of 36-49 for the Generation Bridge Advocate of the Year Award. Members can only nominate one individual per year.

Nominations for the 2025 Generation Bridge Advocate of the Year will be available August 2025. 

Jed Clark, Chair
District 1 – Graves Co.

Katie Cecil-Pedigo, Vice Chair
District 2 – Daviess Co.

Brad Hines
District 3 – Hart Co.

Micah Thomas
District 4 - Allen Co.

Melissa Huggett
District 5 - Bullitt Co.

Mark Mullins
District 6 – Trimble Co.

Sara Beth Guffey
District 7 – Clinton Co.

Greg Harris
District 8 – Madison Co.

Rob McClanahan
District 9 – Pendleton Co.

Jason McGlone
District 10 – Carter

Nathan Boggs
District 11 – Harlan

Scott Bouldin, Secretary
KFB Mutual Insurance Company – Warren Co.

Phillip Greene
KFB Mutual Insurance Company – Nicholas Co.

Shelby County farmer taking "local food" to new heights.

Lily Roadcap has called her family’s farm home for her entire life  having grown up in this small Shelby County community. As such, the fourth-generation farmer has always known she wanted to do something related to agriculture having grown up on a farm that began as a dairy and is now a predominantly cattle and hay operation.

“My family started out raising Ayrshire dairy cattle and now we have a couple of beef cattle herds and hay while still keeping some dairy cows that we show. We also raised tobacco at one time,” she said. “So, the farm has always been a part of my life, and I always knew agriculture was my passion.”.

But the family also has quite a history in the roadside market produce sales with 19-year-old Lily taking years, yes years, of experience in this sector to the next level and keeping a farming tradition alive.

“When I was 13 and wanting a job to have a little extra spending money, not a lot of places would hire someone that young, so I began a roadside market,” she said. “My mom and her brothers used to sell produce at a roadside stand when they were in their teenage years, and she came up with the idea of me starting a garden and selling the extra produce myself. And each year it just kept getting bigger and bigger.”

For a farm family already experienced in selling their produce directly to consumers, the idea of this came somewhat naturally to Lily. From the crop growing to the produce-selling, she has embraced this side of the ag business and is taking it to a new level.

What used to be the old dairy barn on the farm has been many things over the years, but Lily decided it would make a great indoor market and allow her to grow her farm market to include her home-grown produce and much more.

“I'm actually a third-generation member of our family to have a business in this building, including Masters Equipment Company, which was owned and operated by some of my family members after the dairy went out," she said. "And through the years, it's been other things and had sat empty for a decade until I bought it last January and spent the winter getting it ready for the market which opened in April."

Lily said she has always had her eye on the structure and knew this would be the place in which she wanted to expand her business.

“It's exciting to host a business in the same building that my family members did,” she said. “It means a lot to be able to keep the history alive in here. It makes me feel kind of happy that people are shocked that a 19-year-old could run this kind of business.”

The name of “LilyBud” Farm Market is actually the one Lily and her brother use when showing their dairy cows.

“I knew that name already had a bit of a following so we thought it would be a good name for the market,” she said.

The local food perspective

As the old saying about location, location, location being the key ingredient in real estate sales, Lily has found that keeping the business close to the home farm is key to getting the freshest produce to her market.

“During the growing season, most all the produce in the market comes from our farm which is a hop-skip-and jump away, and what we don't raise ourselves, we get supplied from in Shelby County or as close as we possibly can,” she said. “I'm very fortunate to have some nice neighbors who let me use some of their property for gardening, as well.”

Some of the produce grown on the farm includes a large variety of tomatoes, from heirlooms to canning tomatoes, green beans, peppers, sunflowers for cut flower bouquets, turnips, kale, and pumpkins.

"We also sell beef, lamb, and sausage from the farm and we get jams and jellies from the Jam House in Scottsville, Kentucky and chicken salad, pimento cheese, and Benedictine which is made by Cottage Cafe in Middletown, Kentucky,” Lily said.

She said it's important to her to have local foods whether they are from her farm, surrounding operations, or other parts of the state.

“Everything in the market is from this state and I plan to stay open all year and will get produce from farms farther south in the winter months," she said. "There are not many places like this market in our small community, so we are glad to be a part of it. The summer was very busy, and I didn’t expect that, but it has been great and we are excited about it.”

Of course, a busy market needs a lot of help and most of Lily’s help is homegrown, too, including members of her family.

“My family is really pleased with the business that I've grown, and they're also very proud,” she said. “None of it would be possible without them, from getting the picking done and getting it into the store and the planting and all that, it's not a one-person show, that's for sure, and they really are a big help.”

Plans for the future

This young agricultural entrepreneur is certainly not resting on the success she has seen so far but rather planning for growth in the future, something she has done since beginning this venture as a 13-year-old.

“I already have a greenhouse that was gifted to me by a family in Simpsonville, Kentucky and I see a high tunnel in the future, and I hope to keep expanding each year,” she said. “I have a whole back half of the building that is just used for storage right now, but I hope to eventually add a commercial kitchen and do soups, salads, and sandwiches with our products and other local farmer's products and have a little café.”

The future looks bright for Lily and the market, and she gives credit not only to her family but organizations in which she participated in growing up.

“I was very active in 4-H and FFA in school and I’m still involved in my community's 4-H,” she said. “I spend lots of time educating younger children, especially. I always promote these programs and I certainly would not be here without them.”

LilyBud has also become one of the newest members of Kentucky Farm Bureau’s Certified Farm Market Program.

The Farm Bureau is really good about promoting businesses like mine through that program, and I think that's wonderful,” she said.  I’m using my Facebook platform and posting what we do on our farm to give people a real insight of the work that goes into it.”

As time has changed on the farm over the years, Lily Roadcap is doing all she can to keep the tradition going taking what she has learned from her family to new heights with her LilyBud Farm Market. But there are still reminders of the farm ‘s past heritage.

“I use our old tobacco setter to plant nearly every crop I have,” she said.

Some things never go out of style.

 

There’s nothing cozier than the warm glow of a Christmas tree filling a room. Add the scent of a live evergreen, and you’re practically living in a Hallmark movie.  

But once the holidays pass and January creeps in, the task of removing your beloved tree awaits. For many, this may seem a solemn duty, signaling the end of a joyous season and the beginning of several holiday-less months ahead. But there is some good news: Instead of throwing your live Christmas tree out with the trash, you can give it new life… as a fish habitat!

You read that right. The tree that’s currently twinkling in your living room could soon be home to native Kentucky species like Smallmouth Bass, Bluegill, and Crappie. Through a program called “Christmas for the Fishes,” the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife (KDFW) collects discarded Christmas trees and sinks them in bodies of water around the state to create fish habitats.  

This is needed due to the depleted woody habitat in many of Kentucky’s lakes and reservoirs, especially those in excess of 50 years old, explained Joseph Zimmerman, a fisheries biologist for KDFW.

“The vast majority of lakes in Kentucky have some age on them,” Zimmerman said. “Fish need structure in order for them to feed. They need structure for cover and refuge. Because of the lake age in Kentucky, a lot of that woody debris is broken down or might be covered up in sediment. A lot of our lakes have big winter drawdown – if you go visit some of the lakes in Kentucky during winter, they look like a moonscape. It’s those areas where there is no woody debris on the bottom where we go in and build sites for fisheries.”   

Staff at KDFW have been running this program since the 1970s, but volumes have significantly picked up in recent years. Zimmerman said tree donations have skyrocketed from a couple thousand to upwards of 6,000.

Depending on a site’s specific needs, KDFW may place up to 100 trees in one location.

“We’ll place these Christmas trees in areas based on the specific lake management goals,” Zimmerman said. “So, for instance, if we build a habitat site on a large flat in a lake, we may cluster it up real tall to create a ‘reef of Christmas trees’ by placing 50 to 100 trees in one location.”

Once the habitat is placed, KDFW staff can evaluate its success using electrofishing equipment. (At one point, they tried scuba diving, but visibility was too low in Kentucky’s murky lake waters.) Electrofishing is a technique used by fisheries biologists to sample and study fish populations in bodies of freshwater.

“We tend to find out the sites where we cluster 75 to 80 Christmas trees, the more fish they’re going to hold,” he said.

Habitat building is necessary regardless of the “Christmas for the Fishes” program, so having access to already-cut trees is a big advantage from both an environmental and feasibility standpoint.

“This program is an easy way to get a lot of woody material to put in our lakes,” Zimmerman said. “We use Christmas trees because they’re already cut. Otherwise, we would spend a lot of time throughout the year going to areas and collecting trees for fish habitat. It’s a lot for work having to cut your own trees and haul them to the lake.”

The goal? To create a gratifying environment for anglers across the state. KDFW publishes GPS coordinates of these habitats online so that fisherman can easily access them. A list of tree drop-off sites are also available here.    

“The angler catch is the end goal,” Zimmerman said. “When you get a phone call or an email from an angler that says they found one of our sites and that they caught a lot of crappie, that’s the rewarding side of the job. A lot of these sites really attract a lot of gamefish. If you create that kind of predator-prey interaction, those will be areas where our anglers can improve their catch.”

Interested in recycling your Christmas tree into a fish habitat?
First, remove any lights, ornaments, or other artificial decorations from your live tree. Then, drop it off at one of the more than 30 sites across the state designated by the KDFW. This year, collection will begin immediately following the holidays and run through Jan. 15. Sites are open during daylight hours only (8 a.m. to 5 p.m.) and will be unstaffed but clearly marked using signage. The locations are in parks for the most part, so it will be a good opportunity to get out of the house and enjoy a local park while you help fish populations across the state. To find a drop off location near you, visit fw.ky.gov.

The Kentucky Farm Bureau Farm Woman of the Year Award will honor a Farm Bureau woman who is actively engaged in production agriculture. This award will recognize, encourage, and reward the achievements of women farmers. The recipient will personify the highest level of professional excellence in agriculture.

Entry Guidelines

1. The individual must be actively involved in farming or an agriculture-related operation.
2. Nominees must be a Farm Bureau member.
3. Applicants will be judged by a panel of out of state agricultural professionals.
4. Nominations must be received by Friday, August 29, 2025

2025 Farm Women of the Year Application

Our Gold Star Reports are designed to recognize the achievement and success of Farm Bureau Women throughout the state.

NEW this year, we have an on-line version of our Gold Star reports. This feature allows you to fill in the questions as you go and save your work. Once you have everything entered and supporting documents attached (if any) hit submit and you’re done! If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

To access the on-line forms, select the link below.

          Winter - https://kyfb.jotform.com/220653828366058

          Spring - https://kyfb.jotform.com/220724115805145

          Summer/Fall - https://kyfb.jotform.com/220726034807149

For the traditional paper form, please access the links below.

Women’s Program Winter Report

Women’s Program Spring Report

Women’s Program Summer/Fall Report

Our Top County Award is the highest achievable honor in the Women’s program and is awarded to the most outstanding county women’s program.

Top County Women's Award Program

Ag Literacy are used to share your county’s successful activities and to help Kentucky Farm Bureau better plan each of these events yearly.

Ag Literacy Week/National Ag Day Report

https://www.teachkyag.org/

https://www.agfoundation.org/resources

https://www.agday.org/

The Women’s Mini Grant Program is a grant of up to $500 offered on a competitive basis with priority given to those programs demonstrating a need for financial support. Prior recipients must wait three years before re-applying. Deadline for submitting a Mini Grant application is October 10, 2025

2025 Women's Mini Grant Application

The Women’s Educational Grant is a $2,500 scholarship awarded to a female non-traditional student. The applicant must be a member of Kentucky Farm Bureau for at least one year prior to applying and be a high school graduate.

2025 Kentucky Farm Bureau Women’s Education Grant Application

Deadline to submit your application is February 28, 2025.

KFB Regional Teacher Workshops are held yearly and provide educators training and professional development opportunities designed to better enable them to incorporate agriculture into their daily core curriculum. More specifically, teachers learn the value of using agricultural related material to teach Mathematics, Social Studies, English, and Science through real life application.

2025 Workshop Information Coming soon

The Excellence in Agricultural Literacy Award is designed to recognize and reward teachers who excel in their efforts to incorporate agricultural concepts throughout their core academic studies. All certified pre-kindergarten through 12^th grade teachers who engage agriculture concepts into non-agricultural curriculum are eligible to apply.

Excellence in Ag Literacy Application

Women are involved in numerous programs at the state and county levels to bolster the effectiveness of Farm Bureau. Farm-city activities, ag-in-the-classroom programs, commodity promotions and youth contests are some examples of their work.

Agriculture Literacy

KFB Regional Teacher Workshops are held yearly and provide educators training and professional development opportunities designed to better enable them to incorporate agriculture into their daily core curriculum. More specifically, teachers learn the value of using agricultural related material to teach Mathematics, Social Studies, English, and Science through real life application.

2025 Workshop Information Coming soon

The Excellence in Agricultural Literacy Award is designed to recognize and reward teachers who excel in their efforts to incorporate agricultural concepts throughout their core academic studies. All certified pre-kindergarten through 12^th grade teachers who engage agriculture concepts into non-agricultural curriculum are eligible to apply.

Excellence in Ag Literacy Application

Women's Grant Opportunities

The Women’s Mini Grant Program is a grant of up to $500 offered on a competitive basis with priority given to those programs demonstrating a need for financial support. Prior recipients must wait three years before re-applying. Deadline for submitting a Mini Grant application is October 10, 2025

2025 Women's Mini Grant Application

The Women’s Educational Grant is a $2,500 scholarship awarded to a female non-traditional student. The applicant must be a member of Kentucky Farm Bureau for at least one year prior to applying and be a high school graduate.

2025 Kentucky Farm Bureau Women’s Education Grant Application

Deadline to submit your application is February 28, 2025.

Farm Woman of the Year

The Kentucky Farm Bureau Farm Woman of the Year Award will honor a Farm Bureau woman who is actively engaged in production agriculture. This award will recognize, encourage, and reward the achievements of women farmers. The recipient will personify the highest level of professional excellence in agriculture.

Entry Guidelines

1. The individual must be actively involved in farming or an agriculture-related operation.
2. Nominees must be a Farm Bureau member.
3. Applicants will be judged by a panel of out of state agricultural professionals.
4. Nominations must be received by Friday, August 29, 2025

2025 Farm Women of the Year Application

Gold Star Reports

Our Gold Star Reports are designed to recognize the achievement and success of Farm Bureau Women throughout the state.

NEW this year, we have an on-line version of our Gold Star reports. This feature allows you to fill in the questions as you go and save your work. Once you have everything entered and supporting documents attached (if any) hit submit and you’re done! If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

To access the on-line forms, select the link below.

          Winter - https://kyfb.jotform.com/220653828366058

          Spring - https://kyfb.jotform.com/220724115805145

          Summer/Fall - https://kyfb.jotform.com/220726034807149

 

For the traditional paper form, please access the links below.

Women’s Program Winter Report

Women’s Program Spring Report

Women’s Program Summer/Fall Report

Our Top County Award is the highest achievable honor in the Women’s program and is awarded to the most outstanding county women’s program.

Top County Women's Award Program

Ag Literacy are used to share your county’s successful activities and to help Kentucky Farm Bureau better plan each of these events yearly.

Ag Literacy Week/National Ag Day Report

https://www.teachkyag.org/

https://www.agfoundation.org/resources

https://www.agday.org/

Meet Your Committee