Agriculture

The USDA’s first meeting to help women and Hispanic farmers file a claim of alleged discrimination on loans was Monday in Simpsonville.

The lightly attended session was the first of two in the state, with the second on Tuesday at the Graves County Library in Mayfield.

The USDA is offering the more streamlined claims process for helping women and Hispanic farmers who believe they were discriminated against while applying for a USDA loan between 1981 and 2000. The claims process opened on Sept. 24 and will continue through March 25, 2013.

Shelby Countians expressed satisfaction Friday when Gov. Steve Beshear’s office released the amount of the funding –  $325,224 –  that will go to the Shelby County Agricultural Development Foundation, Inc., to be made available to farmers.

Shelby County’s return to its wine-making roots was in full vintage on Saturday, when Vegh-Davis Vineyard called in a few friends to help gather about 4.5 acres of traminette grapes at a converted farm on Hempridge Road.

Shelby is the sixth Kentucky County to experience a case of West Nile Virus in its equine population, but vets say there is no cause to panic.

That is, if horses have been vaccinated.

Dr. Richard Griffin, a vet with Equine Services in Simpsonville, said an Arabian yearling in eastern Shelby County, near Cropper, contracted the virus nearly two weeks ago.

Despite not being able to eat because its lips and tongue were paralyzed from the disease, the animal survived, because he was able to feed it intravenously, Griffin said.