Educating local beef producers is a high priority in Shelby County. According to the 2012 Census of Agriculture, Shelby County has more than $15 million in beef animal sales yearly, emphasizing the need for beef producers to take herd management and breeding decisions seriously. Field days serve to educate cattlemen regarding important production principles while demonstrating practices in a practical, on-farm setting.  

With these facts in mind, Agriculture Extension agents in Oldham, Trimble, Henry and Shelby Counties have organized and held an annual Regional Beef Field Day for farmers since 2005. These field days offer producers an opportunity to see how production practices are implemented on local farms. Field days also promote adoption of new practices that improve production efficiency while protecting natural resources, which are goals outlined in the county plan of work.

 Regional Beef Field Day was held at an Oldham County farm in September 2021. During the field day, 170 area producers attended and learned about:

  - Host farm family’s herd management and bull selection
  - Pros and cons of available commodity feeds
  - Pond management

Presenters included a young farmer, a University of Kentucky Extension Beef Specialist, and a Kentucky State University Aquaculture Specialist.  Agriculture Extension agents identified topics of interest and benefit to producers; contacted speakers; and led tours during the field day. The host farm and the Oldham County Extension Agriculture Agent raised $1,000 in sponsor funds to help cover field day costs. Producers also had the opportunity to visit exhibitor tables for information to help their farm enterprises.  Exhibitors included Natural Resources Conservation Service, Division of Forestry, local lenders, a local breed marketing association, and a local cattle handling equipment business.

The 2021 Regional Beef Field Day was one of the first big events held regionally since March of 2020 due to pandemic-influenced programming delays.  This was the first educational and networking event that some farmers had attended in a while.  An Oldham County farmer commented, “This is always a great event, and it was really nice this year because I got to see people I hadn’t seen in some time.  And I got to learn first-hand from the experiences of another farmer.”

Additionally, this field day enabled many area cattle producers to complete education requirements for Kentucky Ag Development Fund’s cost-share program.  This cost-share program has helped farmers across Kentucky make significant improvements to their farming operations.