SCOTT COUNTY, Ky. (FOX 56) — It’s finally fall in the Bluegrass. For many, that means cool weather, pumpkin patches, and fall festivals. For farmers, that means it’s time to hit the fields and harvest their crops.

“Harvest season runs anywhere from late September, typically until mid-November. You have some guys that’ll go a little later, some guys that do a little earlier. It’s all really weather dependent,” Scott County Extension Agriculture Agent Brittany Brewer said.

For many of the area farmers, this is a family business that has been passed on for generations. Families have spent years perfecting how to maximize the crop yield and minimize losing any of the product.

“I was born into a farming family. I guess, I’m third generation here in Scott County. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think of my or fathers, my grandparents that did this and I think that’s that’s a lot of why we love it. We get to carry on a tradition and pass down the knowledge and the love for it. You don’t do this for the money. You do this because you love it and you want to see it continue and you want to succeed at it,” said farmer James Lyons.

When asked what is the biggest stereotype around farming Lyons said he believes it’s that many people don’t understand the depths of what farmers actually do.

“Farmers have to do a whole lot of jobs. Farmers are weathermen. They’re mechanics. They’re financial advisors. They watch markets. They make decisions sometimes for the wire, sometimes for the best. And they take risks. I think a lot of people just don’t understand completely what goes into it,” Lyons said.

To many, it’s a job of importance they dedicate their entire life to.

“Only 2% of the nation are farmers, and so 2% are feeding the 98% of the nation,” Brewers added.

Putting in hours of work to feed people around the globe they will never meet is just one of the many contributions central Kentucky farmers make.