Success Stories - Kentucky Extension Reporting System

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Craig Wood, Ph.D
Acting Associate Dean & Director
UK Cooperative Extension Service

S-107 Ag. Science Center North Lexington, KY 40546-0091

+1 (859) 257-4302

craig.wood@uky.edu

Cooperative Extension Service

Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment

Impacts

Craig Wood, Ph.D
Acting Associate Dean & Director
UK Cooperative Extension Service

S-107 Ag. Science Center North Lexington, KY 40546-0091

+1 (859) 257-4302

craig.wood@uky.edu

Fiscal Year: 2025

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Jul 1, 2024 - Jun 30, 2025

Success StoriesKentucky Extension Reporting System

No Till Drill

Author: Carol Hinton

Major Program: Forages

Describe the Issue or Situation.Farmers and homeowners have been recovering from several years of over grazing and over cutting  pastures and hay fields.  With very little time to put in new forages. Describe the Outreach or Educational Program Response (and Partners, if applicable).Producers have increased their utilization of the Cooperative Extension Service no till drill.  The drill has been rented by new producers and homeowners.  The drill went over 300 more acres

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Summer Annual Forages Field Day

Author: Megan Wetenkamp

Major Program: Forages

Forages make up 70% of the cropland in Henry County. Many farmers are unable to raise row crops on the rolling hills, while others have chosen to utilize prime land for high quality forages like alfalfa. Summer annual forages are often overlooked as an important tool for farmers. These species can be used as an emergency forage if spring stands fail. They can also be used as a bridge crop when establishing novel endophyte fescue. More importantly, they make a high-quality and versatile feed that

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Horse Pasture Evaluation Program

Author: Samuel Smith

Major Program: Forages

The UK Horse Pasture Evaluation Program had another strong evaluation season during the summer of 2025. 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

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LaRue County Stored Forages- Problems and Solutions

Author: Adam Thomas

Major Program: Forages

Describe the Issue or Situation.LaRue County has an approximately thirteen thousand beef cows grazing fifth teen thousand acres.  Cash receipts totaling six million dollars of revenue can be attributed to beef cattle and forage production in the county.  One of the factors affecting profitability of the cow calf is winter feeding cost and costs associated with the waste of stored forages.  Estimates range from $150-250 per head to feed a cow for 120 days in the winter based on qua

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Forage News Newsletters

Author: Samuel Smith

Major Program: Forages

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-far

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International Grassland Congress Proceedings on UKnowledge

Author: Samuel Smith

Major Program: Forages

The International Grassland Congress has been held every 3-4 years since 1927. These congresses have been the major forage related event in the world during the last 100 years. The University of Kentucky hosted the Congresses in 1981 and again in May of 2023. At these Congresses presenters submit a manuscript that go into a Proceeding volume or pdf that is then distributed at the meeting. These volumes have been valued by delegates returning from the Congresses, but until recently it was difficu

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2025 KY Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

Author: Samuel Smith

Major Program: Forages

In 2025, the 44th annual Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference was held in Bowling Green KY on Feb. 25, 2025 with 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 “Alfalfa Updates and Producing Grass Hay for Premium Markets”.    Topics and speakers included: Everyth

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2024 Heart of America Grazing Conference: Regenerative Grazing...Merging Art and Science

Author: Christopher Teutsch

Major Program: Forages

The 2024 Heart of America Grazing Conference, Regenerative Grazing...Merging Art and Science that was held on October 15-17 in Elizabethtown, KY. This conference was a three-day event that attracted participants from Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, Missouri, Indiana, Illinois, and beyond. Day one consisted of an on-farm Pasture Ecology Workshop held near Ceclia, KY. More than 100 participants learned about soil health, bale grazing, dung beetles, watering and fencing systems, winter annual forages, a

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KYForages YouTube: Engaging and Informing Forage Producers in Kentucky and Beyond

Author: Christopher Teutsch

Major Program: Forages

In 2017, we established the KYForages YouTube Channel.  The impact of this endeavor continues to grow.  Our subscribers have increased by almost five times since the channel was established to over 6,700.  In this reporting period, content from this channel has been viewed more 115,000 times with an average watch time of just over 12 minutes resulting in a total watch time of approximately 1.4 million minutes.  The United States and Canada make up 77% of the total views with

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Development and Implementation of Kentucky Intermediate Grazing School

Author: Christopher Teutsch

Major Program: Forages

The Kentucky Beginning Grazing School was established in 1996.  This two-day workshop provides new livestock producers with critical skills needed for designing and implementing a rotational grazing system. The curriculum has remained much the same for the past 28 years. In 2024, we redesigned the Kentucky Beginning Grazing School to focus on topics that would enable new and beginning graziers to have success. To compliment this curriculum, we developed the Kentucky Intermediate Grazing Sch

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Central Kentucky Hay Contest 2024

Author: Brandon Sears

Major Program: Forages

Central Kentucky Hay Contest 2024

Kentucky has long been known for our Bluegrass Pastures and green, rolling hills. We have an abundance of forages with nearly 5 million acres of hay and pasture lands. Recent programming surveys by the UK Beef Extension group indicate that about only 35% of livestock producers test hay for quality. Utilizing hay testing to determine nutrient content allows for more efficient feeding of livestock through the winter by matching high quality hay with livestock that have the greatest nutrient requir

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Hay Auction 2025

Author: Brandon Sears

Major Program: Forages

Hay Auction 2025

Madison County continues to rank in the top 3 in the state of Kentucky for hay with approximately 43,600 acres produced. To help market local hay, the Madison County Extension ANR agent and the Madison County Fair Board partnered to coordinate a regional hay auction at the county fairgrounds.On Saturday January 18th, 2025 our 18th annual hay auction took place with 96 lots of hay and straw offered for sale. The Madison County ANR agent coordinated some deliveries, and load out, and provided radi

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Master Haymaker

Author: Brittany Brewer

Major Program: Forages

Kentucky ranks 4th nationally for hay production. In 2023, more than 2 million acres were harvested, producing 4.16 million tons of hay. Alfalfa hay production by Kentucky farmers is estimated at 270,000 tons with sales in 2022 totaling a whopping 344 million dollars. (National Agriculture Statistics Service and Economic Research Commission).  The opportunity and market to sell high quality hay is present but the requirements to get to a quality finished product can be daunting. Agricu

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Beef Pasture Workshop

Author: Allison Tucker

Major Program: Forages

With variable weather conditions in the past few years, pasture management and hay quality have become a priority for many livestock producers. Fayette County teamed up with the Franklin, Woodford, and Scott County Ag Agents, UK Forage Specialists, and Corteva Agriscience Range & Pasture representatives, to put on a Beef Pasture Workshop in May. This workshop was designed to help producers find the best forages for their pastures, understand how to control undesirable forages and weeds, and

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Farm Fencing School

Author: Clinton Hardy

Major Program: Forages

Daviess County Extension Service has partnered with faculty from the Princeton research station over the past 4 years to host two of the University of Kentucky fencing schools.  Farm fencing across western Kentucky is in constant need of repair and replacement.  The fencing schools provide an opportunity for farmers to receive adequate training on fence construction.  Most will request support from the County Agriculture Investment Program for partial funding for their fence const

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NIR for the Barrens

Author: Jacob Hall

Major Program: Forages

NIR Technology Comes to Barren County: A Game Changer for Kentucky Forage TestingFor years, cattle producers have been feeding rations without precise data on the nutritional quality of their hay. Information such as protein levels, fiber content, macronutrients, and micronutrients was often unavailable or delayed, making it difficult to match feed to the specific needs of livestock. That changed in May 2025, when Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIR) technology became locally available—right h

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Forage Testing for the State of Kentucky/ KET Appearance

Author: Tyler London

Major Program: Forages

For many years, cattlemen and producers have fed rations without data for their hay being readily available. By data I am meaning proteins, fibers, macronutrients, micronutrients, etc. However, in May of 2025 this all changed when NIR was no longer located in a different state or far off at an extreme cost. NIR came to Barren County. Glasgow to be exact. NIR Near Infrared Spectrometer gives feed value and protein and many other things of a farmers feed and forages. This allows a farmer to match

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Bale Grazing Field Day

Author: Adam Huber

Major Program: Forages

In Kentucky we often have wet and muddy winter conditions, and for livestock producers that are feeding hay during the winter months this can cause issues with livestock health, soil health and can be hard on producers and their equipment. Typical hay feeding in Kentucky consists of setting out rolls of hay every few days in the pasture fields were the livestock are fenced in and it requires the producers to drive through the wet muddy conditions compacting the soil and creating condensed areas

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Acting Associate Dean & Director — Craig Wood, Ph.D.
S107 Ag. Science Center North
Lexington, KY 40546-0091
+1 (859) 257-4302

© 2024 University of Kentucky, Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment