Barren County High School begins adding a new meat processing facility

BARREN COUNTY, KY.- Lots of new things are coming on the scene at Barren County High School. The agriculture department is adding a new meat-processing facility to its agriculture pathway program, and it’s impacting current students and the students of the future.

A few agriculture students at Barren County High tell us how getting a new facility will do more than help the students understand the fundamentals of processing meat.

Andy Moore, an agriculture teacher and the FFA advisor, at Barren County High School says, “It’s not all totally meat production. We’d like for them to be able to understand food preservation and really just food science in general.”

This new addition is not only going to impact the students academically, it’s giving students hands-on experiences they wouldn’t normally get.

Mollie Webb, a senior at, and the FFA president told us, “It’s a really refreshing and exciting time here because it’s just new things, it’s new territory, and there’s lots more opportunities for us to learn.”

Matthew Estes, an 11th grade agriculture business student shares how this is not just impacting students right now, it will also affect the students who are coming into the program.

He says, “First, students are coming into the program. I’m very excited that they’re going to be able to experience all these new facilities. I think they’re going to be able to have even broader knowledge of agriculture and be even more well-rounded in the agriculture field we’re all going to be able to use this as recruitment. And to grow the next generation of leaders.”

Barren County is known for agriculture, and now it will be the only county with a high school with this facility in Kentucky.

Barren County High School has already ordered equipment for the meat processing facility and News 40 will continue to keep you up to date with this story.