Ag Commissioner Ryan Quarles visits Bowling Green, talks about food, farms, gubernatorial aspirations

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles visited Bowling Green Wednesday to talk to local farmers, distributers and restaurant owners about the impacts of COVID on the agricultural community. He also announced he is considering running for governor. Quarles is a Republican. 

“I am considering running for Governor but at the same time, it’s early and I think it is so important that we focus on the task ahead of us because I always felt like, if you have good policy, the politics will follow,” said Quarles.

He says his goal for now is to just be the best ag commissioner he can be.

Quarles opened the floor up and allowed each person a chance to speak, ask questions or voice their concerns.

Many common concerns involved issues of meat packers being severely behind.

The issue is the large amount of time it is taking to send off meat to be processed and returned in the current climate.

Another major concern for many in attendance is the inability to staff kitchens, farms and restaurants.

Quarles said that issue was one he hopes will be addressed soon by the governor and criticized Beshear for many of his executive orders.

“One of the things we are hearing from our restaurant owners is that workers may not be coming back. The workers may not be coming back as expected because of government benefits. Working in the restaurant industry is tough work. You can’t Zoom in to be a line cook or waitress or waiter. We are trying to encourage young Kentuckians that if you want to earn some summer cash, save up, buy your first car, why not consider working in the restaurant industry,” said Quarles.

A local farmer, Nathan Howell, says while farming has been a necessity through the pandemic, farmers have all but over harvested to provide the food necessary to the community.

“Meeting demand has been a major challenge. The demand on small scale farms has drastically increased in the past year,” said Howell.

Quarles also said another huge issue is unemployment, calling it a crisis.

He says there are still numerous Kentuckians who have still not received benefits who desperately need them.

“I think we have 80,000 Kentuckians that applied over a year ago for unemployment claims that still haven’t been processed right now. Just as recently as last week, we learned that there were a dozen or so employees at the unemployment offices that were actually receiving benefits while working for the state,” said Quarles.

Quarles also says restaurants are hiring all over the place, so if you don’t have a job, there are options.