Author: Courtney Jenkins
Major Program: Horticulture, Commercial
Seven years ago, Magoffin County ANR Agent, Courtney Jenkins, began working with a direct-to-consumer farmer with a desire to increase his farm income through commercial fruit and vegetable production.The agent first worked with the farmer through the local Grow Appalachia program, providing technical assistance and resources for him to be successful in his venture, as well as through the efforts of establishing the county’s first-ever farmers’ market. Later, the agent worked with hi
Author: Kristin Hildabrand
In a survey conducted by the Kentucky Horticulture Council, commercial cut flower growers indicated that they would like to learn more on cultivating cut flowers in low and high tunnel structures as well as how to control insect and disease pests for specialty cut flower production. UK Cooperative Extension, Center for Crop Diversification, and the Kentucky Horticulture Council answered these needs by collaborating together to offer 2 commercial cut flower short courses to teach these identified
Author: Rachel Rudolph
High tunnels are low-cost, covered, passively heated and cooled semi-permanent structures used to extend the growing season for high-value specialty crops. They also help small farms increase their resiliency and can provide added diversity and income to these farms. High tunnels allow growers to moderate the environment with respect to precipitation and temperature, which can translate to increased income due to increased marketable yields and improved produce quality. As of 2022, there are mor
Kentucky commercial vegetable growers produce a wide range of crops, which as of 2019 contributed $40.9 million to the state’s economy (Balazs & Davis, “The Importance of Agriculture for Kentucky,” March 2022). Kentucky has over 2,471 vegetable farms. More than 20% of those farms are less than 9 acres (USDA-NASS, 2019). Extension-based research at the University of Kentucky aims to produce information that can be directly used by growers as a means to increase yield, improv
High tunnels are primarily used for specialty crop production, including fruit and vegetables, and have been shown to increase quality and yield. There are over 1,500 high tunnels in Kentucky. Many of the people acquiring high tunnels are completely new to farming and do not have experience with basic management like irrigation. There are several factors to consider when setting up irrigation for the first time. Unless they have farms themselves, many Cooperative Extension Service (CES) agents d
High tunnels have the potential to provide specialty crop growers with the ability to extend the growing season and moderate the environment with respect to soil moisture and temperature. This can translate to increased income from increased marketable yields and improved produce quality. High tunnels play an important role in the local food system of Kentucky. As of 2022, there are over 1,500 high tunnel across Kentucky. As more growers adopt high tunnel production, new challenges are observed.
Author: Kimberly Leonberger
Kentucky commercial vegetable growers produce a wide range of crops, which as of 2019 contributed $40.9 million to the state’s economy (Balazs & Davis, “The Importance of Agriculture for Kentucky”, March 2022). Extension based research at the University of Kentucky aims to produce information that can be directly used by growers as a means to increase yield, improve profitability, and/or reduce disease and pest issues. Thus, Extension specialists in Horticulture, Plant Path
Kentucky commercial vegetable growers produce a wide range of crops, which as of 2019 contributed $40.9 million to the state’s economy (Balazs & Davis, “The Importance of Agriculture for Kentucky”, March 2022). In order to extend the growing season, provide local produce earlier in the year, and receive the highest price for these crops, growers will often produce some vegetable crops in high tunnels. Tomatoes are the most commonly produced high tunnel crop. However, high t
Author: Joshua Knight
RIGHT: Map of Earlier Data (Shared Equipment)Though the Geographic Horticulture Directory of Kentucky has been live since mid-2018, its resources have been updated periodically to reflect changes in data availability. With new data provided by the Kentucky Horticulture Council surveys this fall, the directory data for Shared Equipment and Community Kitchens reflects considerably more resources available for Kentucky growers. LEFT: Map of Current Data (Shared Equipment)Wit
Author: Sarah Fannin
A high percentage of Morgan County’s population is eligible for supplemental food assistance including the Senior and WIC Farmers Market Nutrition Program administered by the local health department. The current pandemic has only caused additional food insecurity for many of these families. The ANR agent received a $2,000 KY Double Dollars grant from Community Farm Alliance which allowed WIC and Senior FMNP participants to double their vouchers up to $15 per day when purchasing
The Center for Crop Diversification first established basic content for Cut Flower Production as far back as 2016. At the beginning of 2021, through collaboration with Kristin Hildabrand (Warren County Horticulture Agent), Alexis Sheffield (Boyle County Horticulture Agent) and Cindy Finneseth (Executive Director, KHC), the CCD began the process of creating an expanded landing page for all current resources, Kentucky, regional, and national, specifically related to cut flower production. &n
Author: Brett Wolff
Marketing for All Curriculum Development Funded by a $48,200 Specialty Crop Block Grant, the Marketing for All curriculum was designed to meet the highly diverse marketing education needs of scale-variable Kentucky specialty crop farms and businesses by developing new trainings and resources, while extending several existing programs. New materials included a 10 module beginning farmer-friendly curriculum spanning online and social media marketing, best practices for direct market ven
Author: Robert Kirby
By following the CDC, KDA and local health department guidelines, the Knox County Farmer's Market started their 9th successful year. The Knox County Farmer's Market outdoor season began Thursday, April 21 through November 11, 2021. On average during peak season we had roughly 300 customers per week. During the beginning and end of the season, Knox Farmer's Market averaged 75-100 customers a week. Individual vendor revenues ranged from $100 to $1,500 per week. Estimated market revenue
Author: Shawn Wright
Wyatt Lucas was an intern for us and managed a watermelon variety trial that was published in our 2021 Research Reports. It gave him experience managing a project and in publication while providing useful information to the commercial melon industry in Kentucky.
Author: David Koester
Organic Farming continues to be gaining in numbers of producers and in numbers of acres in production. The public continues to drive the need for more organic choices. This trend is especially noticeable in urban areas.To meet the need of potential growers and to facilitate attaining more growers in urban areas The 2022 Organic Association Conference was held in Boone County Kentucky in April. This conference was planned by the OAK staff, Oak board members and the Boone County Horticulture Agent
Author: Kara Back-Campbell
The Casey County ANR agent approached the Taylor County Horticulture and ANR agent with the idea to create and host a Women in Ag Conference. The goal of this conference was to provide agriculture / horticulture programming with a focus on women. With knowledge the women gained, the agents are hoping they will take what they learned and apply it to an existing or new farming enterprise. Along with several other ANR and horticulture agents in neighboring counties, the first Central Kentucky Women
The opening day of the Taylor County Farmers' Market raised concern for the 2022 season, because of the low turnout of customers. Upon reviewing last year's numbers the next market day was projected to be even lower. The Horticulture agent along with the ANR agent, 4-H agent, and EFNEP assistant worked together to plan, set up, and host the first Spring Festival at the Farmers' Market. The festival consisted of Taylor County Master Gardeners working centers for children to learn how
Author: Amanda Sears
In 2013 a local cattle farmer contacted the Madison County Horticulture Agent and told her he would like to start an apple orchard. The Agent invited the University of Kentucky Fruit Specialist, Dr. John Strang, to make a site visit and discuss the project with the client.Tree fruit are difficult to grow here in Kentucky due to our climate which increases the likelihood of diseases and insects which attack the trees. These issues can drastically reduce fruit yield by effecting the health of the
