Author: Carol Hinton
Major Program: Farm Management, Economics and Policy
The problem The local Breckinridge, Grayson and Hancock County areas have noticed an increase in the number of women taking active roles in the agriculture enterprises recently. Based on US Census of Ag Data, 35% of the primary farm owners in this area are women. This is due to many factors: succession, new residents interested in farming, better resources for women, and general interests, to name a few. This area of Kentucky is also expanding in diverse enterprises ranging from vege
Author: Gregory Halich
Programming in Bale Grazing 2023-2024 Bale Grazing is a winter feeding practice originally developed in the western Canadian provinces and portions of the northern US. Done correctly, it can reduce equipment and labor (no tractor is required for feeding) and dramatically increase pasture fertility. However, it had to be adapted to work well in the Upper South as our soils aren’t frozen over for months at a time during winter. I started bale grazing on one of my perso
Programming: Cow-Calf Profitability Conferences Winter 2024 While University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension has had many good programs focused on beef cattle, we felt that these programs have typically be somewhat fragmented and lacked cohesion: Various specialists from different departments would present on their respective topics. While programs like this have been valuable, we wanted a program where all the presentations were tied together and focused on what farmers had the mos
Author: Megan Wetenkamp
It is a common complaint amongst farmers that grant and cost-share programs are too confusing to apply for. There are many different opportunities available to farmers that they are not even aware of. The concept for the Henry County Ag Funding Workshop was created by Kendall Bowman, Owen County ANR Agent. The program was tweaked to better serve farmers in Henry. To attract more people, the event was aligned with the release of CAIP Applications and CAIP Informational Session. Additionally
Author: Patrick Hardesty
In 2000, the General Assembly through House Bill 611 allocated 50% of Kentucky’s Master Settlement Agreement. The Taylor County Cooperative Extension Service became administrator of the county Agriculture Development Council to help facilitate the development of short- and long-term plans for agriculture, evaluate and prioritize projects and distribute funds.Through this partnership, projects provided opportunities to increase profitability and promote diversification away from tobac
Author: Brandon Sears
Madison county continues to be among the top three counties for growth in Kentucky. Many who move here are first time land/farm owners in search of guidance for how to get started and connected to the community. Local farmers and landowners also continue to need assistance and education for their production challenges as well.In an effort to educate and connect producers with one another programs and with input from the Madison County Extension Agriculture Council, Madison County Beef Cattle Ass
Author: Matthew Chadwick
The problem and planned program to respondFarmers of all disciplines recognize the need to plan for the transition of the farm to the next generation. However even with the best plan on paper, actually attracting the next generation to stay or come back to the family farm can be challenging at times. The planning committee looked to address those issues by discussing topics such as estate planning, on farm diversification of crops and diversification of marketing for existing crops, as well as g
Author: Ivelin Denev
The problemThe educational program responseThe participants/target audienceOther partners (if applicable)Program impact or participant response.
Author: Miranda Rudolph
According to the USDA, the average age of U.S. farm producers in 2022 is 58.1 years, and the number of producers aged 65 and older showed a 12% increase, which is consistent with the continued trend of an aging farm population. Along with this comes the unfortunate reality of people inheriting land that has been in their family for generations, or people buying land that had been sold off of generational farms. This is very true for Graves County. Over the last several months, there has been a s
Author: Annette Heisdorffer
Women who want to take a more active role in the farm business side of the operation can be intimidated by a lack of knowledge of the operation and options for their farm business. Annie’s Project is a Farm Management Training Program for women providing a safe and nurturing learning environment. Extension agents in Daviess and Henderson counties graduated 25 women involved in farm business from a 15-hour, six-week instructional course called Annie’s Project, a farm mana
Author: Glen Roberts
The problemCollaborators: UK Beef IRM Nutrition Specialists, KY Farm Bureau Federation, Wayne County Farm Bureau Federation, ANR Agent Glen Roberts, KSU Small Farm Assistant, and Wayne County Cattlemen`s Association mineral committeeSituation: After attending Master Cattlemen and other beef nutrition educational sessions taught by University of KY Beef nutrition specialists Wayne County Cattlemen became aware of the need to purchase better minerals for their cowherds. They also learned that they
Author: Chuck Flowers
.Carlisle County has over 36,000 acres of soybeans and 28,000 acres of corn producing over 74 million dollars in sales of grain for the county (2022 Census of Agriculture). Carlisle County ag agent collaborated with other local ag agents from Fulton, Hickman, Graves, McCracken, Calloway, and Marshall Counties as well as three adult ag teachers from WKCTC to provide the annual Winter Ag Conference. This informational meeting was held at Lowry Farms in Pilot Oak, Kentucky. With
Author: Levi Berg
According to the 2017 Ag Census, Clark County have over 800 farms and around $34,028,000 in agricultural sales with livestock sales equaling 55% of total sales. Also Clark county has 14,576 households according to the 2019 census. With this knowledge, the Clark County Extension Office worked to hold the 2024 Winter School. The purpose of the 2024 Winter School was to hold a three day series covering bull selection, hay storage, pasture fertilization, pond construction, feed and water structures,
Author: Joanna Coles
Social media presents an incredible marketing opportunity for farmers. The Warren County Extension Agents for Agriculture and Natural Resources and Horticulture developed a social media series targeting farmers’ market vendors, agritourism operators, KY Proud partners, and on-farm business owners. Utilizing University of Kentucky resources and industry standards, they created a three-part series that consisted of classroom instruction, hands-on activities, one-on-one coaching, and after-cl
Author: Kenneth Burdine
Cattle Market Notes WeeklyCattle Market Notes Weekly is a marketing publication / newsletter that is sent out jointly by Extension Livestock Economists from the University of Kentucky, the University of Arkansas, and Mississippi State University. This publication includes a relatively short article focused on a cattle-related marketing or management topic each week, along with related graphics, price tables, and the most recent drought monitor. James Mitchell, Josh Maples, and I write articles o
Regional Cow-calf Profitability ConferencesDuring March of 2024, four Regional Cow-calf Profitability Conferences were held in areas that had a significant number of cow-calf operations and that had not recently hosted a program of this type. These educational programs were very intensive, running from roughly 9am until 4pm, and included multiple presentations by Greg Halich, Jonathan Shepherd, and Kenny Burdine. Topics were specifically selected that were deemed to have the most potential to im
Author: Ricky Arnett
Phase I funding continues to play an integral part of the agriculture of Green County. The Green County Agricultural Development Board helped to administer over $300,000 to the agriculture producers of Green County.The council funded producers with the C.A.I.P. program that included: genetics, fencing, on farm water development, cattle handling, hay storage, diversification, technology, dairy diversification, and forage improvement. Several different educational offerings included as part of the
Over the past few years of working with the youth in our county and being an adviser to the Ag Alumni Association I came to realize the youth of Green County feels there is nothing for them here after High School. 95% of our Junior and Seniors in Agriculture are looking to support there families outside of Green County and a large portion of those students will live somewhere else as well. I realize Green County don’t have everything the larger city’s have but we still have opportuni
