Extension
It Starts With Us
Author: Chuck Flowers
Major Program: Agriculture and Extension Leadership Development
With a one billion dollar impact and $359,967,000 worth of products sold across 960 farms- WAVE AG Day highlights agriculture in Ballard, Carlisle, Fulton, and Hickman County. The 5th year for the event, River Counties WAVE AG Day, took place at Columbus Belmont State Park on July 21 from 7:30 am to 1:00 pm. The theme “Let’s Grow With It” was again the theme for the year. The WAVE Ag Day is a joint venture including all four county judg
Author: Tad Campbell
Major Program: Agriculture and Extension Leadership Development
Following the pandemic shutdowns and protocols, the Mason County Extension Service and Mason County Farm Bureau continued the annual tradition of Farm Youth Day. The program is designed to educate our youth about the importance of agriculture and the origin of food along with safety awareness. Mason County Extension Service partnered with the Mason County Farm Bureau, Fleming Mason RECC, and a local producer to host a Youth Farm Day. The sixth-grade students from Mason County School
Author: Michelle Simon
Major Program: Agriculture and Extension Leadership Development
Over the past 6 years, Campbell County Cooperative Extension, has hosted their annual family friendly event: Community Celebration to help market and increase awareness to local residents and the surrounding communities about The Cooperative Extension Service. Across Kentucky, Extension continues to be the “best kept secret”. In effort to build awareness about Extension and the research based information for communities, Campbell County Extension for the first time in two
Author: Leann Martin
Major Program: Agriculture and Extension Leadership Development
Leadership development and professional improvement opportunities are extremely important to the success of Extension Agents. The KY Association of County Agricultural Agents (KACAA) provides avenues for agents to sharpen their skills and become “Better Together” through teamwork. Agents have not had a great deal of in-person trainings the past two years due to Covid restrictions.The W7 and W8 agriculture and horticulture agents hosted the KACAA annual meeting on June 22-24, 2022 in
Author: Raul Villanueva
Major Program: Agriculture and Extension Leadership Development
Dominican Republic is one of the largest banana exporters. Bananas are a staple food for Dominican Republicans that is consumed not only as fruit but also as a cooked vegetable as carbohydrate source for daily meals. This crop provides valuable income to local farmers as well as one of the major agricultural products exporting overseas. In 2021, banana rust mite, an invasive species to Dominican Republican, was detected causing severe damage to nursery banana plants. Dr. Villanueva was invited t
Author: Raul Villanueva
Major Program: Agriculture and Extension Leadership Development
After two years of interruption two events that take place were completed at the Nature center at Land Between the Lakes Critters day on July 16, 2022 and the Hummingbird Festival on August 6 and 7, 2022. The first event had more than 600 people attending whereas the hummingbird festival had 1825 (1181 on Saturday and 644 on Sunday). The event included 15 volunteers, 15 staff, 20 presenters. John M. Pollpeter (Lead Naturalist at LBL) said that the event was a success with 20 stands and a h
Author: Douglas Shepherd
Major Program: Agriculture and Extension Leadership Development
Our new Extension facility has gained a lot of interest across the state, and two district boards sent their building committees here to discuss how this massive facility came to be and how it was financed. So the agent gave groups from Oldham, Mercer, and fourteen agents from east Tennessee a tour and then met with them one-on-one to discuss and answer questions. Several of the county judges from their state association meeting also meet with the agent answer questions they had.
Author: Carol Hinton
Major Program: Agriculture and Extension Leadership Development
After a 2 year delay, we were able to host the inaugural Women In Ag Chat and Chew session. Financial reports and records were discussed as well as discussions for future programming. Over 25 women were in attendance and future programs are on the books from hands on equipment maintenance and repair and fence repair and building all suggested by Dr. Chris Teutsch.
Author: Sarah Fannin
Major Program: Agriculture and Extension Leadership Development
The year 2022 brought an unexpected weather event to the Morgan County Extension Council’s Market in Park – unprecedented rain that unfortunately led to some of the worst flooding in Eastern Ky history. Quick planning allowed the volunteers to move the event indoors to the Index Community Center. Despite such conditions, over 400 participants and 40 vendors participated.“Market in the Park” …. Or “Market in the Community Center” for this yea
Author: Linda Hieneman
Major Program: Agriculture and Extension Leadership Development
There is a need in each community to develop people to maintain a high quality of life and productivity. One component of this is allowing them to develop as leaders and educate them regarding the community in which they live. The Greenup County Extension Agent partnered with the local chamber of Commerce – Ashland Alliance Community Leadership Development Program. The program consist of seven weeks, meeting once a week covering topics that are crucial to our Tristate area which incl
Author: Lynn Blankenship
Major Program: Agriculture and Extension Leadership Development
Metcalfe County Extension Agent for Family and Consumer Sciences Extension served on the hiring committee with K-State West Region Director and other K-State Extension employees. Four candidates for the K-state west region Family and Consumer Sciences Agent were interviewed in two rounds and the best candidate was successfully hired.Metcalfe County Family and Consumer Sciences Agent hosted Williamm Crawford, Kentucky State West Region Coordinator/Area Agriculture Agent for a taping of Fam
Author: Susan Fox
Major Program: Agriculture and Extension Leadership Development
Forage specialist, Dr. Chris Teutsch, included video demonstrating the benefits of a GPS tractor guidance system in saving costs of fertilizer and spray applications. In trials at the University of Kentucky Research and Education Center applicators overlapped their applications by as much as 30%. The technology also aids in seeing field skips so that all areas are seeded or sprayed as needed. Local farmers heard the presentation and were impressed.To allow small farmers access to the technology,
Author: Sarah Fannin
Major Program: Agriculture and Extension Leadership Development
The Kentucky Master Gardener Program is an intensive fourteen-week series of horticultural and leadership classes to train new volunteers to be better gardeners, stewards of the land, and community leaders. Each person who completes the program must return 40 hours of community service through the Cooperative Extension Service during the first year after the completion of the program and 20 hours each year after that. Morgan County CES is thrilled to have 28 students currently in trai
Author: Victor Williams
Major Program: Agriculture and Extension Leadership Development
Laurel County has seen a significant increase in sheep production in recent years. According to the NASS Census of Agriculture, Laurel County jumped from ranking 77th in Kentucky for sheep production in 2012 to the rank of 49th in 2017. As production has increased, so has the need for local educational opportunities regarding animal health; farm financial management and record keeping; and marketing strategies.In Fall 2019, a small group of farmers approached the agriculture agent at
Author: Brian Jeffiers
Major Program: Agriculture and Extension Leadership Development
With a large and growing number of women involved in the management and labor of family farms, the need to develop leadership skills among these women is significant. A core group of eight women has convened in Johnson County to form a local chapter of Kentucky Women in Agriculture, gathering monthly to share their ideas and experiences from their work in agriculture. These sessions also include a brief lesson on a timely topic for gardens or farms. The members are part of commodity groups such
Author: Levi Berg
Major Program: Agriculture and Extension Leadership Development
"Extension is the best kept secret" is a phrase every extension employee has heard at one point in time. Clark County Extension decided to try and spread the news about all of the wonderful services extension offers and hopefully reach new people thru a Fall Fest event. This event was free and open to everyone of all ages. Many steps were made in advertising this event including articles in the local newspaper and shows on local radio. Many activities were offered from fish casting com
Author: Jessica James
Major Program: Agriculture and Extension Leadership Development
I have been doing a radio spotlight on the radio every Tuesday since the beginning of 2022 and it has been a great way for me to promote any upcoming programs or just get the name of our Extension Office out to the community so that they can understand the different things that we offer. I have talked about many different ag related topics including how the weather has an impact on crops, different management strategies, upcoming CPH sales, upcoming field days etc.. I have had many people in the
Author: Alexis Amorese Sheffield
Major Program: Agriculture and Extension Leadership Development
The Leadership Boyle County program was formed by the Chamber in 1983 as a non-profit leadership program designed to further the development of the talents and energies of Boyle County’s present and future leaders. As part of this program, participants spend a day learning about the variety of agricultural and natural resource enterprises throughout the county. The Boyle County Extension Agents planned a full day exploring agriculture and its effects on the community.
Author: Joanna Coles
Major Program: Agriculture and Extension Leadership Development
Motivating and Educating Agricultural Leaders (MEAL) was created by a group of Mammoth Cave Area Agriculture Agents to develop leadership skills for farmers. The 18-month course provided farmers an opportunity to learn key leadership skills and network with others in south-central Kentucky and was scheduled around major farming tasks and didn’t take them away from the farm overnight. Evaluation results after program completion indicated that 100% of the participants felt more c
Author: Michelle Simon
Major Program: Agriculture and Extension Leadership Development
Campbell County ANR Agent became a member of the Kentucky Association of County Agriculture Agents in 2010 and was elected to the position of Agriculture Economics & Community Development Committee Chair. Prior to 2010 there was limited communication between the specialists and agriculture economics department on campus and agents at the county level which restricted the development and advancement of agriculture economics programs. In 2018, Campbell County ANR Agent jump started the KACAA A
Author: Gregg Rentfrow
Major Program: Agriculture and Extension Leadership Development
The COVID-19 Pandemic highlighted the need for trained meat processors. The University of Kentucky Meat Cutting School hosted three processing clinics in 2023; one, pork processing and two, beef processing workshops. The Pork Processing Workshop had 14 people in attendance from four states, whereas a total of 10 people attended the Beef Processing Workshops. These workshops are 2 1/2 day, hands-on trainings designed to introduce the participants to meat processing. The ma
Author: Gregg Rentfrow
Major Program: Agriculture and Extension Leadership Development
Meat snacks is the fastest growing segment of the snack food industry. Meat processors in the Southeast focus on fresh meats and do not take advantage of processed meats. Those meat processors in the Midwest and Northern states that take advantage of processed meats can add an additional 30% to 35% in sales. In addition, Extension Agents are always looking for new programing ideas and hunters and do-it-yourselfers have been asking county agents for these types of programming. &
Author: Gregg Rentfrow
Major Program: Agriculture and Extension Leadership Development
Beef producers can add value to their beef cattle by educating themselves and their consumers about beef products. This agent collaborated with Dr. Katie VanValin, University of Kentucky College of Agriculture Food and Environment, Beef Cattle Specialist and Dr..Gregg Rentfrow, University of Kentucky College of Agriculture Food and Environment, Meats Specialists to provide a program to help producers and consumers alike. The program entitled Producing Beef for the Consumer utilized class room pr
Author: Gregg Rentfrow
Major Program: Agriculture and Extension Leadership Development
The Butcher Block in Muhlenberg County is a new meat processor. They need help with the daily operations of the business, including how to spot bottlenecks in production. I traveled to Central City to work with the owner and offer advice on what new technology he could purchase that could increase production. In addition, we discussed the profitability of purchasing local cattle for processing. The Butcher Block is brand new, but they should be making a profit soon.
Author: Curtis Judy
Major Program: Agriculture and Extension Leadership Development
On May 1, the Todd County Extension staff began operating from the new County Extension Office in Elkton, KY. Construction had begun in June of 2022 and was substantially complete in April of 2023. The building contains 6,236 square feet of interior space, with a 2,013 square foot meeting room, a conference room, demonstration kitchen, soil test room, break room, 4 offices, staff assistant reception/work area, several storage rooms, and restrooms. The parking lot will accommoda
Author: Curtis Judy
Major Program: Agriculture and Extension Leadership Development
On May 1, 2023, the Todd County Extension staff began operating from the new County Extension Office in Elkton, KY. Construction had begun in June of 2022 and was substantially complete in April of 2023. The building contains 6,236 square feet of interior space, with a 2,013 square foot meeting room, a conference room, demonstration kitchen, soil test room, break room, 4 offices, staff assistant reception/work area, several storage rooms, and restrooms. The parking lot will acc
Author: Brett Wolff
Major Program: Agriculture and Extension Leadership Development
Objective:To give agriculture outreach providers an overview of key considerations for supporting clients through Farm Succession planning and to establish a network of experts in this area to conduct future trainings.Description:The SARE team conducted a 5-part, 7-speaker virtual training series on Farm Succession specifically tailored to the needs and interests of agricultural outreach professionals. The series included: Session 1--Drs. Becky Smith & Nichole Huff: Series Introdu
Author: Ricky Yeargan
Major Program: Agriculture and Extension Leadership Development
The Senior Extension Associate for Ag Programs, Ag Programs Administrative Associate/Unit Budget Officer and Director for Urban Extension have worked together on numerous grant requests for applications. As part of this effort, they attended, supported and facilitated a series of meetings with key University of Kentucky (UK) personnel and representatives of Lexington - Fayette County NGOs involved with urban agriculture and local food systems. Ultimately this led to the formation of
