Each year the Glasgow Barren County Chamber of Commerce conducts a leadership development program for youth of Barren County.  Twenty five youth are competitively selected from Glasgow Independent, Barren County and Caverna Independent Schools to participate in the program.  One of the daylong session is dedicated to agriculture.  The Barren County Agriculture Extension Agent was charged by the Chamber to put together a program to demonstrate the importance of agriculture to the economy of Barren County.  The 2021 agriculture day program to entitled, “Where did my breakfast come from?”  The day began at the Extension office with breakfast snacks that included sausage balls, fresh fruit, and milk.  All of the foods were locally sourced from local producers.  The sausage balls were made with sausage from Moore’s Family Farm, and cheese from Kenny’s Farmhouse Cheese.  The fruit was from Davis Produce, and the milk from Legacy Dairy (a local dairy who bottles their own milk).  After breakfast, the students watched a video about Legacy Dairy that was produced by Mammoth Cave Area Ag and 4H agents.  The students then boarded a bus for a trip to Kenny’s Farmhouse Cheese which included a tour of the robotic milking and cheese making operations.   Students were able to sample different chesses following the tour.  The next stop was Moore’s Family Farm to see where the hogs are grown and processing plant where the sausage is made.  Student were also about to hear about the Moore’s family beef, sheep, and alpaca operations.  After lunch back at the Extension office, the students toured the local livestock market to hear first-hand about the economic importance of the beef industry here in Barren County.  The day was concluded back at the Extension office will a discussion of the day’s activities, and presentation on different commodities grown here in Barren County.

Through the discussion students expressed their new appreciation for locally grown products and how they get these products.  Students were seemed to be most impressed that Barren County produces a large amount of poultry and fresh produce.  These commodities are not a well-known in the community.

The day finished with a discussion of the cooperative extension service, land grant universities, and College of Agriculture, Food & Environment.