Extension
It Starts With Us
Enhancing Agriculture Management and Marketing
Growing Grayson County through Rural, Youth, and Community Development
Whitney Carman
Forages
Beef
Grain Crops
Commercial Horticulture - Crop Marketing
Agriculture in Grayson County is an integral part of the economic system. In 2012 the total value of crop and livestock cash receipts for Grayson County was 46 million. Balancing input costs, value of crops and livestock, and marketing techniques are always changing, making it harder for farmers and agriculturalists to be profitable. Another issues is the increase in average farmer age, thus the importance of estate transitional planning. Therefore, it is important to educate farmers on the latest information available from the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture food and Environment, and industry partners so they can make educated decisions to help increase the vitality and profitability of their enterprises.
Farmers and Producers will adopt integrated systems of animal and plant production which sustain and/or enhance the economic vitality of their agricultural enterprise. Production methods utilized will increase the amount of commodities produced. There will also be an increase in early career farmers by the year 2019.There will be an increase in farm enterprises who have completed estate planning.
Producers will utilize new management and marketing skills learned from the Cooperative Extension Service programs that can increase the chance of agricultural enterprise profitability. More farmers will make decisions to work on estate plans.
Producers will learn new marketing techniques for livestock and plant production.
Producers will understand ways of controlling their input costs more effectively
Producers will learn new educational tools that they can use to increase efficiency and effectiveness on their agricultural enterprise.
Initial Outcome: Increases awareness of new production methods and techniques
Indicator: education of production methods and techniques
Method: written evaluation
Timeline: Spring 2019, Fall 2019
Intermediate Outcome: Improvement in management and production methods
Indicator: Adoption of practices learned in Extension Programs
Method: Survey of Extension Programs
Timeline: Fall 2020
Long-term Outcome: Increased Economic Vitality of Agriculture Enterprises
Indicator: Economic conditions of farmers become more viable
Method: mailed survey, online survey, and e-mail survey.
Timeline: Fall 2020
Audience: farmers
Project or Activity: Livestock Marketing
Content or Curriculum: CPH-45 program, Yellow-Tag program, Retained Ownership Program, KY Proud, KY Beef IRM
Inputs: UK Specialists, UK Beef Publications, county agents, beef farmers, Cooperative Extension Services, local livestock markets, Kentucky Department of Agriculture
Date: Spring-Winter 2019
Audience: farmers
Project or Activity: Beef and Forage Production Education
Content or Curriculum: Publications and videos on forages and beef production, project demonstrations on crabgrass and summer annuals
Inputs: UK publications, UK videos, Specialists
Date: Winter 2018-19
Audience: farmers
Project or Activity: Beef and Forage Field Days
Content or Curriculum: Demonstration plot, UK publications and presentations on beef marketing and forage use
Inputs: UK specialists, Local Farmer, Kentucky Beef Network, Agents, Publications, Beef IRM Committee, local farm store
Date: Summer 2018, Fall 2018, summer 2019
Audience: farmers
Project or Activity: Variety Plots for crops, forages, and vegetables
Content or Curriculum: County variety plots for Corn, soybeans, summer and winter forages, and vegetables
Inputs: UK Specialists, Local seed reps, Local farmers, UK publications
Date: Summer 2018, 2019, 2020
Audience: Early career farmers
Project or Activity: Farm Financial Management
Content or Curriculum: UK curriculum for Managing for Today and Tomorrow
Inputs: UK, Kentucky Department of Agriculture, Kentucky Ag Development Fund, Agents, local businesses
Date: Summer 2019
Audience: Women in Agriculture and Agribusiness
Project or Activity: Annie's Project
Content or Curriculum: financial management and general agribusiness education
Inputs: UK, Kentucky Department of Agriculture, Kentucky Ag Development Fund, Agents, local businesses, Annie's Project curriculum
Date: Fall- Winter 2018
Audience: Grain Producers
Project or Activity: Grain Marketing Education
Content or Curriculum: Information on grain marketing
Inputs: UK publications, UK specialists, local marketing groups, producers
Date: Summer 2019
Audience: Young Farmers
Project or Activity: Young Farmer Program
Content or Curriculum: FarmStart curriculum, UK specialists, local agribusinesses, local farmers, UK Extension agents, commodity organizations
Date: Meet Quarterly: Fall 2018, Winter 2018, Spring 2019, Summer 2019
Audience: Facebook and Social Media Users/General Public
Project or Activity: Social media posts regarding agriculture marketing and management techniques
Content or Curriculum: various research based resources
Inputs: UK Specialist, paid Extension Staff, social media outlets
Date: Year round 2018, 2019
Author: Whitney Carman
Major Program: Beef
The Beef Integrated Reproduction Management Program developed by the University of Kentucky Beef Extension Specialists has spread throughout the Commonwealth to include counties in the central and western part of the state. The goal of the program was to develop a more controlled calving season, to incorporate better record keeping, increase weaning weights by better genetic selection, and to educate farmers on increased efficiency and profitability by using these techniques.Three Grayson County
Author: Whitney Carman
Major Program: Farm Management
Based on the USDA Census of Agriculture, from 2012 to 2017, farm operations with a female principal producer went from 185 to 439. The Grayson County Cooperative Extension Service has noticed an increase in female clientele in programming and for walk in consultations on different topics. There was Even after the Farm Basics program that Farm Service Agency collaborated on, the participation continued to increase. The Agriculture agent saw a need based on the types of questions that were being f
Author: Whitney Carman
Major Program: Farm Management
Fencing projects are an investment that many farmers do not take lightly. Done correctly, it can be a 25 year investment. Understanding basic principles of fencing can help a producer understand how fence their own property, or to understand the cost associated with hiring someone to do it for their farm.Based on the idea of an advisory council member, the Agriculture agent worked with this producer/fence contractor to develop a program for participants to learn basic fencing techniques and try
