In 2019, at the age of 37, I thought all of my dreams were about to come true!  We inherited a 120 acre farm that we had zero intentions of keeping.  Becoming a cattle farmer was the last thing on my mind!  Our only goal was to sell this farm and use that money to build our dream home.  So the work began.  This farm, originally called the Todd Place, had seen better days.  The fields were overgrown.  The barns were in rough shape.  The road sides were so grown up that you couldn’t tell where the fences were.  

 

We wanted to move quickly.  We inherited the farm in June and planned to hold a public auction in less than two months!   We began to spend every free minute cleaning this farm up.   It was so satisfying to see the neglected fence rows get some much needed TLC.  In fact, it was so satisfying that the thought began to run through my head: why are we selling this place?  But immediately that thought was met with: Because I have no clue how to be a farmer!!  But I couldn’t shake the idea. 

 

Instead of selling the farm, we invested in a tractor and cows!  I’m now a cattle farmer!   Now what?  Quickly, I figured out that beef farmer was much more than loving cows and steak!  

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I love beef. So I decided to sell beef.  Then it dawned on me that there’s many things we make and love that would fit under the farms umbrella.  We started selling things like beef jerky, beer cheese, and other canned goods. The response was greater than I could ever have imagined! 

 

When we first inherited the farm, I joked that we should turn it into a pumpkin patch/farm experience.   One day in 2020,  while bush hogging a 22 acre hayfield that failed to produce quality hay, I remembered the idea of a “pumpkin patch”.   That idea quickly turned to a dream and a passion!  I then spent the better part of a year planning and preparing to open our farm to the community!

 

Fall Days at Allen Farms may be the scariest thing I’ve ever done.  It was also the hardest I’ve ever worked.  We loved sharing our farm with families in our community!   

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One thing that was obvious at Fall Days was my love for rodeo!  We had mutton busting, horses rides, rodeo themed menu items, dummy roping, and more!  So the obvious next step was rodeo!  But I've never put on a rodeo!  But I also never cattle farmed or ran a "pumpkin patch".  I've never been scared to learn something new!

 

Unfortunately, due to some life changes and circumstances, the chapter of beef farming and pumpkin patches closed.  But what didn't close was my love for rodeo.  So in late 2024, plans to put on our first rodeo were put into motion!  I truly feel God sent a man named Steve Spencer with Double S Livestock and Rodeo into my life when I needed it most!  So now Allen Farms is Allen Farms and Rodeo.  We still have farming plans, just waiting on the right opportunity.  However, our first rodeo is happening May 3, 2025 in Brodhead, KY!  

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Farming changed my life!  I now work for the KY Cattlemen's Association as Operations Manager for Beef Solutions, a ground beef company that sells Kentucky Cattlemen's Ground Beef in 250 Kroger stores and several other event spaces.  Farming, pumpkin patches, a new job in the ag field, and now, RODEO!  Here we go!

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Kenny Allen