is labor intensive ( 80 to 85 percent of the
work is by hand) and is grown with the help
of H-2A labor.
Cunningham has been dealing with
ADM Milling, one of the largest grain
buyers in the world, since 1989. He started
with 75,000 bushels and today produces
255,000 bushels. He adds, “We are on a field
to market bookkeeping system. Buyers
are aware of the fertilizers, chemicals,
and seed we use and the good soil and
healthy products they go into.” Besides
his contracts, Cunningham notes that the
local ethanol plant has been of great value
to him and other growers with overages.
His dark tobacco is sold to Conwood, now
known as the R.J. Reynolds Company.
About the tobacco crop, Cunningham
says, “All of my daughters, sons-in-law, grand-
children, and even the great-grandchildren
have assisted with the tobacco crop, either
by preparing the land for tobacco, pulling
tobacco plants, setting tobacco, hoeing
tobacco, oiling tobacco, suckering tobacco,
cutting tobacco, firing tobacco, stripping
tobacco, or hauling tobacco.”
It hasn’t always been a smooth row to
hoe, however. Back in the 1980s, when
interest rates topped 18 percent, Calloway
County lost around 50 percent of its farm
operations. Cunningham recalls, “Friends
and neighbors of ours had to forsake their
land to go find work in nearby towns just to
survive. And the weather was a major factor
because of droughts in 1978 through 1980,
1983, and 1985. You can plant and fertilize
as skillfully as you’re able, but it takes rain
to make a crop.” Luckily, Cunningham was
able to hang on by selling 300 acres of
land to keep the family farm of 75 acres.
The next day he leased back the same 300
acres, land he still farms to this day.
Through the years Cunningham has
practiced good stewardship of the land. He
constructed waterways and placed filter
strips around creeks and streams. Since 1978
he has been a no-till soybean farmer; today
he is at 95 percent no-till. Cunningham also
has a drying facility to dry 100 percent of the
corn he grows and a 300,000-bushel grain
facility so that he can handle 100 percent
of the grain he produces. He harvests the
entire crop with one large combine, a 40-
foot header for bean and wheat harvest and
a 12-row header for corn harvest on a Class 8
Case I-H combine.
He also put in place the first set of terraces
to help control water run-off and help conserve the soil. He installed natural gas lines
to grain dryer ad bins to decrease cost and
seeded a cover crop on the land in the fall to
decrease soil erosion. The farm uses tractors
and semi-trucks with emissions standards to
decrease air pollution.
Cunningham has been a long-term
member and office holder in the Calloway
County Farm Bureau, an organization that
named him Calloway County Farmer of the
Year in 2018. He says of this association,
“They do a remarkably fine job of
advocating for farmers in this county, state,
and country. I’m very grateful for their hard
work on behalf of families like mine that
just love raising the best crops possible,
no matter what the economic fluctuations
might be.”
As to certain farming stereotypes, Cun-
ningham says, “Some people think farmers
are like the old Mr. Greenjeans character
on the 1950s TV show, Captain Kangaroo.
But we aren’t caricatures. Equipment, fer-
tilizer, fuel, and feed all cost money, so we
have to be careful business people who
keep a close eye on everything. And it’s a
good idea to not overspend in the good
years because you know the lean ones may
be around the corner. Debt can quickly
become unmanageable, so it’s not always
the best option, in my opinion.”
Cunningham’s biggest reward has been
raising his family on the farm. His six great-
grandchildren (five boys and one girl) love
to come to fish, hunt, ride horses, and help
out when they’re needed. He says, “It’s a joy
to watch them doing healthy, active things
and not sitting on a couch glued to a laptop
or a smart phone.”
Since losing his beloved wife, Judy,
in 2016, Cunningham taught himself to
cook so that he could continue the family
tradition of Sunday dinner on the farm
after church, Westside Baptist, where they
are involved in Sunday school teaching
and efforts to provide food assistance,
financial aid, and Christmas assistance to
families in the local community. As to the
Sunday meal, Cunningham says, “I don’t do
desserts (one of my daughters is great at
that), but I can fix just about anything now:
ham, meatballs, greens, potatoes, and fresh
corn we put up every year.”
In his spare time Cunningham, a movie
buff, loves to watch action films — anything
with Kevin Costner, Clint Eastwood, Robert
Duvall, or Tommy Lee Jones. He also attends
various regional vintage car events and shows
his restored vehicles: a 1961 Dodge cross ram,
a 1962 Dodge Polaris (with a 413 wedge
motor), a 1958 Chevrolet Delray, and a 1941
Chevy Coup. He comments with a chuckle,
“But I may be about done with NASCAR.
They’ve taken the redneck out of it and made
it a little too white collar for my taste.”
Cunningham counts among his
proudest accomplishments his loving, 54-
year marriage to Judy and their parenting
of three cherished daughters. He says,
“Our first date, between seventh and
eighth grade, was when I asked her to go
on a hayride. Our marriage was the best
partnership anyone could hope to have.
Judy shared my love for the smell of fresh
dirt, newly cut hay, and honeysuckle in
spring time. I was fortunate enough to
find my true vocation early on and never
wanted to do anything else. I love that God
granted me the responsibility of sharing
with my family the importance of farming
and caring for his creation.”
Cunningham was nominated Kentucky
Farmer of the Year by Don Overbey,
co-owner of Overbey Farms of Murray,
Kentucky and, at the time of Cunningham’s
nomination, president of the Calloway
County Farm Bureau Federation Board. He
says, “Danny is an outstanding farmer and
person. A dedicated family man, he has
always stayed strong in his Christian faith.
As with all farmers, he has had years that
weren’t as good as others, but he always
came through with a smile and a positive
attitude.”
Danny Cunningham and nominator Don Overbey.
