Kentucky Agricultural Leadership Program celebrates 40 years of growing leaders in the Commonwealth

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 10, 2025) — Kentucky farmers were facing major challenges in the early 1980s. Higher interest rates and lower export demand led to cash flow problems in agriculture. In addition, their historical main crop, tobacco, faced a lot of political and economic challenges. Amidst these issues, Randall Barnett, then-associate dean at the Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment (CAFE), saw the need for leadership in Kentucky agriculture.

“Agriculture in Kentucky was facing tremendous challenges, and we are going to have a great turnover in our leadership,” Barnett said. “The thought came to me that these new leaders are going to be facing challenges like they never have before, and what do we have going to prepare them for this? And the answer was nothing.” 

Barnett took his concerns to then-Dean Charles Barnhart, and he began to get involved in the creation of a leadership development program called the Philip Morris Agricultural Leadership Development Program, which is known today as the Kentucky Agricultural Leadership Program (KALP). Barnett served as the director for the first four classes before retiring in 1995. He was followed by Larry Jones, agriculture economics professor emeritus, who served as director from 1996-2009.

“Every generation was being removed from the farm, and there was less knowledge and interest in agriculture,” Barnett said. “One of the things I observed at that time was, a lot of those leaders serving in key agriculture roles across the state were aging out.”

As assistant director of the UK Cooperative Extension Service program, one of Barnett’s roles was to serve as liaison for the advisory committees across the Commonwealth containing key leaders. He saw the need to start preparing the next generation of leaders to step into these roles.

Philip Morris USA provided essential funding in the early years of KALP, helping turn vision into reality. Larry Sykes, director of agricultural programs for Philip Morris USA, shared the need for agriculture leaders who influenced KALP.

“At that time, there were a lot of programs that we helped sponsor at universities, but we saw a real need for agriculture leaders. Primarily because, even back then and more so today, the farm population is shrinking, so you don't have as many people to represent you,” Sykes said.

Behind every successful KALP class is a dedicated leadership team. The program is now co-directed by Steve Isaacs, Ph.D., and Will Snell, Ph.D., both longtime faculty at Martin-Gatton CAFE. Supporting them is Emily Roe Brown, KALP program coordinator, who plays a key role in supporting the agenda over the two years of leadership development.

“It is our goal to ensure the next 40-plus years of this program,” Roe Brown said. “Dean Laura Stephenson asked us to listen and challenge, which is one of the unique opportunities that we get here in KALP. We have a lot of leadership development programs in the state of Kentucky. We are lucky here, as folks go through the program, they learn just how unique it is. Even as we have differences across commodities and with policymakers, we really do tend to listen to each other and work together.”

Rod Kuegel, an alum from the first class of the program, is a livestock and crop farmer in Owensboro, Kentucky. He reflects on his involvement in the program and the impact it had on his career.

“The networking we developed was invaluable,” Kuegel said. “This program is an eye-opening experience and probably meant more to me than my college education.”

KALP has been around for four decades and has produced many distinguished leaders across the Commonwealth. While the challenges may be different today, the need for leadership remains.

“This is the who's who of Kentucky agriculture,” Isaacs said, referring to the more than 300 graduates of the program. “I am fully confident we will have another strong 40 years ahead of us.”

The 14th class of KALP graduated in August and celebrated the past two years of leadership growth and accomplishments. This class had the opportunity to travel throughout the Commonwealth, to Washington D.C., the Pacific Northwest, Vietnam and Taiwan to gain first-hand insight into how agriculture operates in different regions and countries. Previous classes have traveled to Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, South Africa, New Zealand, Morocco and through several European countries.

“Participants will tell you that this program changed lives and had an enormous impact on our state and our rural communities,” Snell said.

Kristie Guffey, a Class 13 graduate and assistant professor at Murray State University’s Hutson School of Agriculture, was inspired to apply after witnessing the impact KALP had on her husband, Jamie Guffey, an alum of Class 11.

“The Kentucky Ag Leadership Program is the opportunity of a lifetime,” Guffey said. “It is life-changing what we do in that intense 18-month period. It changed the way I view my role in agriculture, both personally and professionally.” 

Heather Graham, a Class 14 graduate, shares her experience with the program.

“KALP changes people,” Graham said. “It changes the way you lead; it changes the way you listen, and even the way you introduce yourself in the room. We no longer say, ‘I’m just a farmer,’ or ‘I’m just anything’ — we have learned to stand a little taller, speak with more confidence and own our place in agriculture, because every single role in this industry matters.”

As the program continues to build its legacy, KALP is currently building Class 15 which will begin in early 2026.

To learn more about KALP, visit https://kalp.mgcafe.uky.edu.