A Hardin County farmer has been named a finalist for Kentucky Farm Bureau’s 2026 Kentucky Farmer of the Year award, which recognizes an individual “for their outstanding agriculture operations, as well as their service and leadership both on and off the farm.”
Steve Rogers of Glendale grows corn, soybeans, and wheat on 1,800 acres he owns and 1,500 acres he rents. KFB says Rogers began farming on 38 acres of his father’s land during his junior year of high school in 1978, renting 66 acres from a neighbor the following year and 140 acres from another neighbor. Those early operations helped Rogers pay his way through college, graduating from the University of Kentucky with a bachelor’s degree in agronomy.
KFB says the Rogers family has supplied white corn to Weisenberger Mills since the 1980s, and after improving upon early renditions of no-till equipment in the early days of the technology the operation is now nearly 100 percent no-till. Rogers and his wife Ann raised their three children (Phillip, Adam, and Sarah) on the farm, and a formal succession plan for the farm is in place with the children taking on more decision making each year.
Rogers and his fellow nominees, Terry Brown of Hopkins county and Mike Jones of Mercer County, were honored during KFB’s Country Ham Breakfast at this year’s Kentucky State Fair. The winner will be announced at the organization’s annual meeting in Louisville on October 12.
