Author: Kendal Bowman
Major Program: Beef
I spy with my bovine eye Summer brings the warm weather and sunshine. But for many producers across Kentucky, especially Owen County it brings the plague of pinkeye in cattle. In May the Owen County Extension Office partnered with United Producers Inc UPI) of Owenton to begin a brunch and learn series. The Owen County Ag Agent, Kendal Bowman, partnered with the UPI yard manager, Robert Green Jr., to address some timely monthly topics to educate local producers. In May to kick off the monthl
Author: Kevin Laurent
Virtual Beef Bash - Presenter of PVAP Program UpdateIn 2020, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Beef Bash Field day was held virtually. The virtual field day was coordinated and hosted by Drs. Katie VanValin, Darrh Bullock, and Mr. Kevin Laurent. The program included presentations from 11 CAFE extension faculty and specialists, and 2 CAFE research faculty. Traditionally, Beef Bash is a largely attended in-person field day that rotates between being hosted at the University of Kentucky Res
Reaching Out While Locked In Beef Webinar Series - Presenter of "Marketing Basics" and "Preparing for Winter Feeding" segmentsIn the spring of 2020, the governor ordered a statewide lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic which effectively closed Extension offices and in-person programming. The beef Extension group, consisting of Les Anderson, Darrh Bullock, Kevin Laurent, Jeff Lehmkuhler and Katie VanValin, initiated a weekly webinar series for Kentucky’s beef farmers th
Procurement and marketing factors of bred heifers.During the COVID Pandemic, the UK Beef IRM Team created an education video series designed to engage new beef producers. This video series effort was coordinated by Dr. Les Anderson and involved 10 Extension faculty in the CAFE. Thirty-two videos were created discussing all topics commonly faced by new landowners who are trying to decide if they will become beef cattle producers. The first several videos discussed a variety of topics including wh
Breakout session group leaderSpecialists w/ major involvement:Jeff Lehmkuhler, Les Anderson, Darrh Bullock, Katie VanValin, Kevin Laurent, Jimmy Henning During the last week of July of 2020, beef cattle producers, the University of Kentucky Beef Integrated Resource Management (IRM) team along with Cooperative Extension agents and industry representatives participated in an online program to identify and prioritize issues to focus on in the near future to continue to maintain the state&rsquo
Developed the "Grading Feeder Cattle" segment.Specialists Involved: Jeff Lehmkuhler, Michelle Arnold, Kevin Laurent, Kenny Burdine, Steve Higgins, Katie VanValinThe Weaning 101 Workshop help in collaboration with KBN at the Eden Shale farm has been successful in engaging participants in both classroom and hands-on learning styles. However, the COVID-19 pandemic shut down all face-to-face meetings for 2020 and part of 2021. Knowing that producers still needed learning opport
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 retain ownership and capture added value from their investment in beef cattle genetics, facilities, and improved management through diversified marketing strategies. This program is aimed at Kent
Author: Jason Phillips
The Covid-19 pandemic has presented challenges to many people. It has changed the way we live and work. One of the challenges that has developed for Extension Agents is how do we continue to deliver quality educational programs to our clientele during this health crisis? Most traditional face-to-face program delivery methods are not currently an option.An alternate method is electronic delivery of programs. Because most of our traditional field days were canceled due to Covid, agents collaborate
Author: Katherine VanValin
The Weaning 101 Workshop help in collaboration with KBN at the Eden Shale farm has been successful in engaging participants in both classroom and hands-on learning styles. However, the COVID-19 pandemic shut down all face-to-face meetings for 2020 and part of 2021. Knowing that producers still needed learning opportunities for CAIP educational requirements and were getting accustomed to online educational programs, the Weaning 101 Workshop was made to be an on-de
In the spring of 2020, the governor ordered a statewide lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic which effectively closed Extension offices and in-person programming. The beef Extension group, consisting of Les Anderson, Darrh Bullock, Kevin Laurent, Jeff Lehmkuhler and Katie VanValin, initiated a weekly webinar series for Kentucky’s beef farmers that we called “Reaching Out While Locked In”. Our initial effort was to provide five weeks of programming to get us through the pandemi
In 2020, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Beef Bash Field day was held virtually. The virtual field day was coordinated and hosted by Drs. Katie VanValin, Darrh Bullock, and Mr. Kevin Laurent. The program included presentations from 11 CAFE extension faculty and specialists, and 2 CAFE research faculty. Traditionally, Beef Bash is a largely attended in-person field day that rotates between being hosted at the University of Kentucky Research and Education Center, and the C. Oran Little R
Author: Matthew Chadwick
The Calloway County Cattlemen's association had dissolved many years ago and joined in with a regional group, over the years of that partnership the members from Calloway County have dwindled significantly. Over the last two years a group of 6 local farmers have worked to reestablish the individual county level association and have had great success. I have worked with them during their reestablishment to form a partnership with extension. Through that new partnership we have seen a 10 fold
Author: Tracie Goodman
In 2020, the McCreary County Extension office, in conjunction with the McCreary County Farm Bureau office, ran a county agricultural investment program for resident agricultural producers. During this year, McCreary County received more phase-1 funds than in the past, which opened up the program to many more applicants. Twenty of our area ag producers received a total of $20,000 in cost-share funds which they used to construct hay sheds, purchase equipment such as squeeze shoots, improve fencing
Author: Alex Butler
Oxbow Livestock Processing FacilityThe USDA FSIS Meat, Poultry, and Egg Product Directory reports, there are 22 USDA Inspected Facilities for processing beef in Kentucky. Additionally, there are estimated to be more than 10 USDA Custom Exempt processors around the state. Being as there are so few beef processors in the state, the Anderson County Extension Agent, Anderson County Ag Development Board, University Extension Specialists, Kentucky Center for Agriculture and Rural Development, Gov
IRM Beef Program FinalizationThe 2017 USDA Census reports Anderson County has 380 Cow-calf operations with 15,880 head and 340 Beef Cattle Operations with 8,263 head. The Anderson County Extension agent, in collaboration with University Specialists in the Animal Science Department, provided clientele with access to the Kentucky Beef IRM program. The Kentucky Beef IRM programming allowed producers to incorporate synchronization protocol and artificial insemination for beef cattle opera
Author: Kevin Bullock
The University of Kentucky provided the leadership to successfully revise and publish the National Beef Cattle Evaluation Consortium Sire Selection Manual. Dennis Duross in Agricultural Communications provided the editorial support and Darrh Bullock coordinated the chapter revisions and wrote/co-wrote three chapters. This manual is a valuable resource for Kentucky’s beef farmers, and beef producers nationally. We utilize the manual as the reference materials of UK’s Master Cattlemen
Specialists w/ major involvement:Jeff Lehmkuhler, Les Anderson, Darrh Bullock, Katie VanValin, Kevin Laurent, Jimmy Henning During the last week of July of 2020, beef cattle producers, the University of Kentucky Beef Integrated Resource Management (IRM) team along with Cooperative Extension agents and industry representatives participated in an online program to identify and prioritize issues to focus on in the near future to continue to maintain the state’s beef industry competitiven
