Country ham nets $10.5M for charity as Kelly, Joe Craft break own record at Farm Bureau breakfast

Joe and Kelly Craft admire their $10.5 million country ham held by Miss Kentucky Chapel Tinius. (Kentucky Lantern photo by McKenna Horsley)

LOUISVILLE — Two Republican megadonors once again were the highest bidders at Kentucky Farm Bureau’s Country Ham Breakfast charity auction.

Kelly Craft, a former United Nations ambassador and 2023 Republican gubernatorial candidate, and her husband, coal executive Joe Craft, bid a record $10.5 million Thursday morning for the country ham that was crowned champion of the 2024 Kentucky State Fair.

The money will support charities, which Kelly Craft said included the Boys and Girls Club and building new homes in Eastern Kentucky following devastating floods.

The Crafts have repeatedly made the highest bid at the breakfast in recent years. Last year, the couple joined Central Bank in bidding though they were not present. Craft had placed third in the GOP primary months before, behind winner and former Attorney General Daniel Cameron and former Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles — both of whom were also present Thursday.

“I’m not going to mix politics with charity,” Craft told reporters when asked about her future political ambitions. “This is a really important day, and I think this is all about the Kentucky Farm Bureau and all about the people that work so hard in our state to make today happen.”

With former Republican President Donald Trump’s campaign underway this year, the Crafts hosted a Lexington fundraiser for him in May . Before that, the Crafts donated to some of Trump’s primary rivals . Trump appointed Kelly Craft as UN ambassador in 2019 but endorsed Cameron in the Republican primary for governor.

The KFB Country Ham Breakfast annually brings together politicos with agriculture leaders and high-profile Kentuckians during the Kentucky State Fair in Louisville. However, this year’s crowd heard from only a couple politicians as no candidates are campaigning for statewide offices this year.

Republican elected officials in the crowd included Attorney General Russell Coleman, Secretary of State Michael Adams, Auditor Allison Ball and Treasurer Mark Metcalf, as well as dozens of members of the General Assembly. Most Democrats, including Gov. Andy Beshear , had a scheduling conflict this year — the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Thursday was the last day of the DNC.

Kentucky’s highest ranking Republican, U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, addressed the breakfast and said it was his 30th time attending the event. He addressed the crowd on issues of foreign policy and agriculture, particularly the farm bill that has been hung up in Congress. The legislation covers agriculture support and nutrition programs.

McConnell said that if his party were in the majority, “we’d be doing the farm bill.” He added that the situation shows a core difference between elected Republicans and Democrats, and that the latter has a more urban focus.

“Frankly, there are not many Democratic elected officials left in small town and rural America,” McConnell said. “And how that impacts an issue like this — they’re just not particularly interested.”

Flyers promoting an upcoming McConnell biography, “ The Price of Power,” were also on chairs for the breakfast’s attendees before the event began.

Republican Agriculture Commissioner Jonathan Shell also took a moment to highlight farm issues in Kentucky in his remarks.

“I’ll tell you that when our rural areas of this state prosper, so does the overall economy in the state of Kentucky,” he said. “We in Kentucky have a $8.1 billion impact for our farms and families and businesses that are the backbone of this commonwealth, and we owe them a debt of gratitude.”

Broadbent B&B, of Kuttawa in Lyon County, produced the Crafts’ 18.2-pound ham. Kelly Craft said the family typically has Critchfield Meats in Lexington cook and slice the ham so it can be served for Christmas dinner.