LANCASTER, Ky. — Few people, if any, in Kentucky have a better sense of the challenges facing Kentucky farmers right now than Jonathan Shell, the state's agriculture commissioner since 2024.

And there's one statistic he says paints the picture.

"Let's just say you've got about 7,000 acres of corn and beans that are out there this year, on average, you're looking at -- best case scenario -- losing a million dollars on your farm," Shell told WHAS11. "And with some of the yield numbers that we see out there, it could climb up to double that, to $2 million in losses."

Shell talked to WHAS11 on his family farm in Lancaster, Ky., nearly two hours from Louisville, where they raise cattle and grow corn and pumpkins.

Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Jonathan Shell said farmers may lose at leas

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