Cave City man appointed to international ag board

Cave City dairy farmer H. Barlow will head to Washington, D.C., later this month for his first meeting on the Board for International Food and Agricultural Development.

Barlow was appointed to the spot by President Bush and will serve the remainder of an unexpired term until July 2009.

“I think it is tremendous, not only for the dairy industry but for our state, to have H. appointed to this role,” said Roger Thomas, director of the Governor’s Office on Agriculture Police. “He has been a true leader in the dairy industry over the last few years.”

Thomas, a Warren County dairy farmer himself, worked with Barlow on the Kentucky Dairy Development Council, of which Thomas was the executive director until January. Now Thomas oversees the state’s Agricultural Development Board of which Barlow is a member.

“His role on the ag board has enabled the dairy industry in Kentucky to be able to move forward in a way that we have not been able to in the past,” Thomas said.

Barlow said he was surprised and honored when he was invited to interview for Bush’s appointment.

“I have a great passion for agriculture and believe that agriculture in our country is a great natural resource and needs to be developed,” he said. “If I can offer some experience and leadership in getting other countries to develop agriculture, then … ”

A lifetime dairy farmer and graduate of the University of Kentucky with a degree in animal science, Barlow has spent his life in Barren County.

He is active in various agriculture organizations and has worked in dairy feed sales and consulting for 24 years. He is a board member of Lonestar Milk Producers Co-op, the Texas-based organization that purchases most of his milk and is chairman of Kentucky Dairy Development Council.

Barlow said he expects the group will meet a minimum of three times a year and take some overseas trips to monitor how effective U.S. aid is working in underdeveloped countries. The group advises the Agency for International Development on agricultural priorities in foreign countries.

“They said I was nominated based on a lifetime of production agriculture experience and marketing with specific interest in dairy,” Barlow said. “Dairy is a principle ingredient in U.S. aid. In the past, it has been a board totally populated by university professors and most of their emphasis has been on research and development but they would like to shift the emphasis. Three new members are much more involved in production agriculture.”

Married to the former Kathy Clifford of Bowling Green for 35 years, they have four children, daughter, Gini McCandless, a nurse at Greenview Hospital; Brad, an investment banker for UBS; J.P, operations manager for Jimmy Nash Homes; and Josh, a comptroller at DesRochers Painting and is a partner in their homebuilding enterprise.

“I’m very proud and thankful for my children,” he said.