Loretta Lyons named Kentucky Farmer of the Year

Article featured in July 2008 issue of All Around Kentucky
By Lindsey Coblentz

The first woman to ever be nominated for Southeastern Farmer of the Year is a Kentuckian.

Loretta Baxter Lyons of Monroe County is a contender for the honor as the Kentucky Farm Bureau Farmer of the Year for 2008. She is the only woman Kentucky Farm Bureau has selected for the honor in the three times the organization has taken part in the 10-state competition.

Lyons is taking the distinctions in stride. “Not too many women farm, I guess,” she said.

The contest recognizes farmers’ dedication to agricultural excellence. Contestants are judged on efficiency in farming practices, quality of their financial management and leadership in community organizations. The winner receives $1,000.

Lyons began farming in 1961, when she and husband Hade Lyons bought their first 150 acres from a neighbor in the Sand Lick community. They purchased their first tractor for $3,100 and borrowed relatives’ equipment to raise their first crops of tobacco and hay.

At the same time, both were pursuing their college degrees to become teachers.

In 1965, they built a dairy farm and began milking about three dozen Holstein cows. The operation had grown to 120 cows before the herd was sold in 1999.

She faced a difficult choice in 1976 when Hade died after suffering a heart attack. “At age 34, I was faced with a major decision - whether to sell the farm and continue my teaching career or become a full-time farmer.”

In the end, the young mother and widow decided to keep the farm.

Lyons said the hardest part was making all the decisions herself. “We had always discussed all the major decisions that we made,” she said. “I would go to bed at night and wonder what I was going to do.”

Lyons now manages a contract dairy heifer raising program named Hade’s Triple K Dairy Inc. after her husband and their three children, Kerry, Kevin and Kela. Kerry is the president of the operation. Kevin is the Monroe County Extension Service agent for agriculture and natural resources, and Kela is a physician in Bowling Green.

Triple K purchases Holstein calves from a farm and sells them back to the same farm about 20 months later, when each cow is seven month’s pregnant, weighing in at about 1,150 pounds. The operation began with about 110 calves and now fluctuates between 800 and 900 animals.

The farm also started a cash grain enterprise after leasing a 300-acre grain farm in the spring of 2007. The Triple K operation covers 1,140 acres; the family owns 695 and leases the additional land.

Lyons’ interest in farming extends beyond Monroe County; she is a charter board member of the Kentucky Agriculture Heritage Center and is involved with Kentucky Women in Agriculture.

A gospel music fan, she also plays the piano at her church.

As the winner of the Kentucky Farm Bureau Farmer of the Year competition, Lyons will represent the state in the Southeastern Farmer of the Year contest, which is sponsored by Swisher International and the Sunbelt Agricultural Exposition.

Lyons will be competing with farmers from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia for the top honor.

Swisher International will award $2,500 to each state winner. The company also will cover $250 in travel expenses and three nights lodging for each state winner to travel to the Sunbelt Expo in Moultrie, Ga., in October, when the winner will be named and presented with a $14,000 check.