Farming & Breeding
Dayn Johnson:
I grew up surrounded by the industry, living the first seven years of my life on Margaux Stud. I was immersed in the business from an early age, but only within the last couple years have been spent working full time on the farm. Currently I am employed as a groom and barn foreman at Margaux Farm, in both the broodmare and yearling divisions, preparing foals for the yearling sales.
I believe the public, even those living in the bluegrass region, has a distorted image of the horse industry. This is particularly true in regards to the perception of the people who work on farms. The highly visible owners, for the most part, are the wealthy percentage--and while it is true that a lot of people in the industry have and have come from money, a great majority are struggling just to get by, while many are being forced to drop out altogether with the state of the economy. This situation is only compounding the economy, as one of the largest industries in the bluegrass region is the horse industry, and many of our friends and neighbors are being affected by the loss of jobs as farms go under. The problem we face is the exportation of our horses to racetracks in neighboring states (states in which casino games are legal). These states see an increase in revenue--not only as the tracks make more money from their own residents--but also as Kentucky residents travel across the borders to gamble at out-of-state tracks--funneling money into competing state budgets.
If Kentucky's own tracks were allowed to operate video slots and other such casino games in addition to the racing already offered, several advantageous consequences would follow. Local farms would be able to resume racing in-state, rather than having to export to follow the money in other states. Our residents would no longer have to travel out-of-state to go to the tracks/casinos, bringing money back to our state. Travelers from other states would also be pumping their money into our tracks, thereby our state. Our state would benefit from an increased budget from the increase in revenue. And finally, Kentuckians would no longer be losing jobs--neither in the horse industry or the state.