Author: Sarah Fannin
Major Program: Beef
Beef production remains the backbone of the agricultural economy in Morgan County. Given the volatile nature of the cattle market, beef operations need to be fortified with as many tools as possible to thwart unexpected changes. Unknowingly keeping an open cow in a herd can drain up to $1,600 in feed costs plus the loss of a calf crop. One of the biggest tools producers can use to improve their bottom lines is to pregnancy check the herd – skipping this step has been prov
Author: Katherine VanValin
In response to the shutdown resulting from the spread of COVID-19, the team of Beef extension specialists and faculty developed a series of weekly agent updates and trainings using the Zoom video conferencing platform. On April 23rd, 2020 the topic that was presented was “Alternatives to distillers’ grains in beef cattle diets”. Distillery by-products are a common staple in beef cattle diets and are used to supply protein. These by-products are produced as part of the beverage
Beef cattle operations are the economic backbone of agriculture in central Eastern Kentucky. In light of recent market changes, excessive wet weather conditions, and narrowing income margins, Breathitt, Elliott, Magoffin, Morgan and Wolfe ANR agents hosted the Master Cattlemen Program. The goal of the program was to increase the overall profitability of beef producers through intensive classroom training. Fifty farmers - including twenty-two females and five new farmers - completed 10 thr
Kentucky cattle production has increase over the past ten years. Producers are looking for ways to market their beef to insure a steady income and maximize profits The Beef Specialist at the Western Kentucky Research Facility worked with the Christian County direct to consumer beef business through partnerships with local butcher shops. The development of their direct to consumer beef enterprisebrought about several challenges to the operation. One of the main challenges was th
Author: Courtney Jenkins
Beef cattle operations are the economic backbone of agriculture in central Eastern Kentucky. In light of recent market fluctuations, excessive wet weather conditions, and narrowing income margins, the Breathitt, Elliott, Magoffin, Morgan and Wolfe County ANR agents hosted the Master Cattlemen Program. The goal of the program is to increase the overall profitability of beef producers through intensive classroom training. Fifty farmers - including twenty-two females and five new farmers - complete
Author: Jeffrey Lehmkuhler
The southeast is home to many beef cattle stocker and backgrounding enterprises. There are few educational programs developed for this segment of the beef industry and the Mid-South Stocker Conference has established itself as a great program for more than a decade. The program is a multi-state effort involving Kentucky and Tennessee Extension, Cattlemen’s Associations and industry representatives. This year’s conference was hosted by the Warren County Extension ag
The Kentucky Beef Efficiency was again a major draw having between 300-350 beef producers, county agents and industry representatives in attendance. The goal of the program is to provide those involved in the beef industry and opportunity to improve their knowledge of beef cattle management and factors that impact their management decisions to enhance production efficiency. The program was held in Owensboro, KY prior to the start of the annual Kentucky Cattlemen’s Association
A full 2-day educational program targeted to producers, county agents and feed dealers in the southeast. The goal was to provide an educational program for those involved in this specialized segment of the beef industry to learn more about management, feeding and preventative health of feeder cattle managed in backgrounding operations. The program combined hands-on and classroom educational approaches. Funding was received to support the program from KADF KBN as well as industry support. &
Author: Kevin Bullock
When the Extension offices were shut down due to the COVID19 pandemic, the beef Extension group decided to host a webinar series for beef cattle producers and agents. Initially five webinars were scheduled for every Tuesday in April and the first Tuesday of May. Topics included Bull Selection, Reproductive Management, Value Added Marketing, Management Technologies and Nutrition Advancements. These were initially available on Zoom with a live audience and all sessions were recorded and uploaded t
Even with some lessening of restrictions on meeting the beef Extension group decided to continue ROWLI program through the summer with an added twist. We decided to feature one of the beef researchers with an Extension specialists to provide an update on current research at the University of Kentucky and provide some education on how that information can be applied on the farm. Seven webinars were scheduled to accomplish this goal. Topics included an update on the states of the Animal and Food S
Due to the success of the initial ROWLI program and the fact that Extension offices are continuing to be shut down due to the COVID19 pandemic, the beef Extension group decided to expand the ROWLI webinar series for beef cattle producers and agents. An additional three webinars were scheduled for the remaining Tuesdays in May. Topics included Reclaiming Heavy Use Areas (forages), Update on the Current Market Environment and Timely Topics on Beef Health. These were available on Zoom and FaceBook
The Beef IRM team continues to strive to keep county Agriculture & Natural Resource agents current on beef management knowledge to better serve their clientele. During the past year, Zoom was utilized to provide online training for agents on beef-related topics. These updates were provided in the fall and spring during the months of September-December and April-June. During the fall, a total of seven updates were provided. The total number of participants for these se
Author: Leslie Anderson
Reproductive success governs production efficiency in beef cow-calf operations. The University of Kentucky Beef Integrated Reproductive Management (Beef IRM) team developed a multi-disciplinary program to help cattlemen adopt production practices that favor high reproductive rates in their cow herds. The educational model of this program combines traditional classroom with an extensive hands-on, learn-by-doing methodology. UK Extension employs this model as an effort to increase behavior modific
Funding was received by the UK Beef IRM Team to develop a new web/app interface to improve the communication between Extension educators and beef cattle producers in Kentucky. This app will allow County Extension Offices to modernly communicate with Extension groups within the county. This app also allows cattlemen within a county or region to seamlessly interact. Access to a beef production record-keeping system will also be available for users. The goal is to beta-test the app in January 2021.
Two webinars on beef cattle reproductive efficiency were conducted as a part of our webinar series entitled "Reaching Out While Locked In". These two webinars have engaged more than 5,200 users on Facebook and more than 350 views on YouTube.
A video docuseries was developed to illustrate management decisions for new landowners/beef cattle farmers. The series was entitled "I Bought a Farm....Now What" has 20 episodes and has been viewed more than 2500 times in just two months.
Author: Carol Hinton
Post Weaning Value-Added Program – Precondition (PVAP-PRECONDITION) The Post Weaning Valued Added Program - Precondition (PVAP-PRECONDITION) began in 2019 through a grant from the Kentucky Agricultural Development Fund and is administered by the University of Kentucky and the Kentucky Beef Network. The objective of PVAP-PRECONDITION is to encourage cow-calf producers to re
Author: Patrick Hardesty
With approximately 12,000 beef cows, beef cattle income ranks second in the county. To improve profits and sustainability, beef educational meetings were conducted in cooperation with the Taylor County Cattlemen’s Association. These included Artificial Insemination and Sexed Semen; Fall Seeding Alternatives; Fall Feeding Strategies; Minerals, Protein Tubs and Ytex Fly Tags; and Animal Disease Traceability.To promote the beef industry in Taylor County, the Association also cooked at several
