Industries

Kentucky has many industries. Our biggest industry in Kentucky is the Horse Industry. In Kentucky we breed and race horses. We have such good and strong race horses because the area around Lexington has limestone deposits that produce phosphate. The phosphate becomes part of the area's bluegrass and water. When the horses feed on the bluegrass and drink the water, their bones become very sturdy and strong, and enables them to run fast.

Kentucky is a leading coal-producing state. Kentucky supplies about twenty percent of the nation's coal. The amount of coal we mine each year depends upon the demand, how much coal consumers and producers need. If the demand is high, more coal is mined, and even new mines may be opened. If the demand is low, we mine less coal and may even have to close some mines down. Mines that are closed down may be reopened if the demand for coal goes back up.

In Bowling Green there is a Corvette plant. It is the only Corvette plant in the world that makes Chevrolet Corvettes. Foreign car manufacturers, such as Toyota of Japan, are coming to Kentucky to open factories. They know the workers of Kentucky are hard-working, skilled and dependable.

Health services are a growing industry in Kentucky. Kentucky is a leader in the health care field. Doctors and nurses in some of Kentucky's hospitals have led the way in organ transplants. This means using an organ, such as a heart, from someone who has died to replace the diseased organ of another person.

Agriculture is another growing industry in Kentucky. Agriculture includes growing crops and raising animals. Approximately half of Kentucky is farmland. There are about one hundred fifty thousand farms in Kentucky. Over the last fifty years, the number of farms has decreased as Kentucky has become a state with more industries. This means that industries have become more important in our economy.

Bibliograhpy: I got my information on a website called 50states.com and a book called "Kentucky the Bluegrass State", by Peggy Roney Walther.