Author: Chad Niman
Major Program: Forest Education: Health, Management, and Utilization
There is a shortage of forestry training programs available at the K-12 and community/technical college level in Kentucky. Our educational team created a Kentucky ForstryWorks high school curriculum to provide a resource for Kentucky teachers. Kentucky ForestryWorks is an educational training and certificate program focused on forestry, wood industry and logging career opportunities and skillsets. The educational committee is working on upcoming educational opportunities and resources available
Author: Regina Utz
Major Program: Economic Development and Workforce Preparation - ANR
Ag Funding WorkshopOn June 11th, 2024, Trimble County Extension Office hosted the Agriculture Funding Workshop. In collaboration with multiple entities across the state, the Workshop was presented to bring awareness to the consumers of the county of what funding avenues and business building avenues were available. The presenters included, Kentucky Department of Agriculture, KADF, UK Extension, NRCS, FSA, Trimble County Conservation, KCARD, & KSU.There were over 60 people in attendance at th
Author: Bernita Cheirs
Major Program: Camping
According to the U.S. Census (2022) the median household income in Fulton County is $33,449. The cost for one 4-Her to attend 4-H Summer Camp is $300 plus the cost of transportation. Many families in Fulton County do not have the resources to allow their children to attend 4-H Camp. Even if the cost of 4-H Camp was only $200, many families would find it difficult to come up with the extra money. It isn’t that 4-H Camp is too expensive. It costs less than many other camps, but the resources
Author: Samuel Smith
Major Program: Forages
University of Kentucky Forage Specialists and Associates worked with the national Alliance for Grassland Renewal to host the second Equine Novel Endophyte Tall Fescue Renovation workshop in January 2024 with over 120 people in attendance. This workshop included speakers from across the country. Participants included horse owners and farm managers from many states as well as extension agents. After the workshop, attendees had a much better understanding of managing existing toxic tall fescue stan
In 2024, the 43th annual Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference was held in Bowling Green KY on Feb. 8, 2024 with over 120 people attending. This conference was a joint effort of the Kentucky Forage and Grassland Council, University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension, the UK Master Grazer program, and the UK Quality Hay for Horses program. The theme was “Getting Into the Hay Business”. Topics and speakers included: Operating a Major Hay and St
University of Kentucky forage specialists have been distributing a monthly forage newsletter called Forage News for almost 50 years. This publication highlights applied research findings from the UK forage group and the USDA-ARS forage animal production research unit located on UK's campus and specialists in other states. It is also a very useful publication to advertise our upcoming events. The focus of the publication is to provide useful information that can be applied "on-farm
The International Grassland Congress has been held every 3-4 years since 1927. Each Congress in recent years has had 650 to over 1,000 delegates. The most recent of these Congresses was held in Kentucky in May of 2023. At each Congress each presenter submits a manuscript on their research finding. These go into a Proceeding volume or pdf that is distributed at the meeting. These volumes have been valued by delegates returning from the Congresses, but until recently it was difficult for others to
Plastic pollution, heavy metal pollution, so many types of pollution. The benefits of renewable forest products are often not clearly understood by consumers. 2023 marked 7 years of UK Forestry and Natural Resources Extension celebrating the importance of forest products and the forests and people that provide them with the UK campus community. Forest Products are incredibly important to Kentucky, as nearly half of Kentucky is in forest and the circular economy in Kentucky renew-ably contri
The UK Horse Pasture Evaluation Program had another strong evaluation season during the summer of 2024. This program began in 2005 as part of Equine Programs to develop stronger ties with Kentucky’s horse industry. The program focuses on the following objectives:• Providing detailed pasture management recommendations to horse farm owners and managers.• Improving pastureland by increasing forage quality and quantity and reduce the need for stored feeds, such as hay and grain.&bull
Author: Erin Leach
Major Program: Agriculture & Natural Resources
Feeding America reports that:“Food Insecurity is defined by the United States Department of Agriculture as the lack of access, at time, to enough food for an active, healthy life. Food insecurity is associated with numerous adverse social and health outcomes and is increasingly considered a critical public health issue. Key drivers of food insecurity include unemployment, poverty, and income shocks, which can prevent adequate access to food. Alternatively, multiple interventions have been
Author: Jayoung Koo
Major Program: Community Design/Creative Placemaking
Clark County was founded in 1792 from Bourbon and Fayette Counties. The county is in the Bluegrass Area Development District (BGADD) and the Bluegrass Tourism Region. Clark County’s population was 36,972 people and that of Winchester (county seat) was 19,134 people as of the 2020 Census (US Census Bureau, QuickFacts, n.d.). The region is known for its rolling hills and agricultural landscape. The Kentucky River flows on the southern edge of the county boundary. The county seat, Winchester,
UK Department of Landscape Architecture (UKLA) has been partnering with the Huntertown Community Interpretive Park (HCIP) Committee since 2020 to envision the former African-American hamlet community site of Huntertown now as a 40-acre public open space. With the support of the 2021 UK Sustainability Challenge Grant, UKLA revised the preliminary park master plan during phase 2 (2021-2023) to reflect the community’s past footprints on the landscape more appropriately and further explored fo
Despite the ecological and economic advantages of using cross laminated timber (CLT) products, the North American building industry has been slow to adopt this emerging architectural component. The technology has been used in Europe and British Columbia for over 20 years. Many parts of the world have embraced laminated timber (CLT) and mass timber as components in large scale architectural projects. As cross-laminated timber is emerging across portions of the US, this region is far behind despit
Major Program: Community Vitality and Leadership – 4-H Youth Development
According to the National Home Education Research Institute, about 3.1 million homeschooled students in grades K-12 in the United States in 2021- 2022. According to the John Hopkins School of Education, 5% of Kentucky’s K-12 students were homeschooled. In Kentucky's far Mississippi River counties, the number of homeschooled students seems to have significantly increased since the COVID-19 pandemic. As this number continues to rise, homeschool families are looking to take advantage of E
Kentucky’s forests cover nearly half the Commonwealth, but only scattered information had existed on the overall economic impact of Kentucky’s forest and wood industry. To address this shortfall, a team of faculty and staff from the University of Kentucky Departments of Forestry and Agricultural Economics (Drs. Jeff Stringer, Alison Davis, and Terrell Baker along with staff members Bobby Ammerman and Billy Thomas) worked closely to compile data from a wide variety of sources for the
Author: Austin Brewer
This past August, Franklin County proudly celebrated a significant achievement at the Kentucky State Fair. A talented student from our county was awarded the Grand Champion title in the county ham contest, showcasing their exceptional skills and dedication to the art of ham curing.The student participated in Franklin County's thriving ham program, which has been instrumental in teaching youth the traditional methods of curing and processing hams. Through hands-on workshops and expert guidanc
Franklin County's Environmental Education ImpactThis past fall and spring, over 600 students from Franklin County had the enriching experience of attending environmental camps. These camps were conducted in partnership with the JM Feltner Memorial 4-H Camp in London, Kentucky, offering a unique and immersive learning environment.At these camps, students participated in various hands-on activities designed to deepen their understanding of environmental science and natural resource management.
Forests cover nearly half the surface of Kentucky and forest products provide the largest agricultural economic contribution of any sector with $18.6 Billion and provide the most ingredient (White oak) for the $9 Billion Bourbon industry. Despite this few people understand the importance of managing their forests and forest health to maintain ecological and economic productivity. The benefits of using renewable and sustainably grown wood from local woodland owners and farmers are often not clear
