Kentucky commercial vegetable growers produce a wide range of crops, which as of 2019 contributed $40.9 million to the state’s economy (Balazs & Davis, “The Importance of Agriculture for Kentucky,” March 2022). Kentucky has over 2,471 vegetable farms. More than 20% of those farms are less than 9 acres (USDA-NASS, 2019). Extension-based research at the University of Kentucky aims to produce information that can be directly used by growers as a means to increase yield, improve profitability, and/or reduce disease and pest issues. Extension Specialists Rachel Rudolph (Horticulture), Nicole Gauthier (Plant Pathology), and Ric Bessin (Entomology) collaborated with Extension Associate Kim Leonberger to provide a two-hour webinar focused on sharing the results of their recent research efforts with commercial vegetable growers. 

A total of 17 individuals participated in the webinar. Surveys conducted during the program found that 25% of participants were commercial growers. Results indicated that 50% of attendees had one to three years of experience, while 33% had six to ten years of experience growing commercial vegetables. Participants represented farms of various sizes, with 40% having four to six acres of production. A post-presentation survey found that growers were likely to implement the following disease management practices; manage environment/moisture/humidity (40%), utilize fungicide preventative sprays (40%), and rotate to other crops (20%). At the conclusion of the program, 100% of attendees indicated that it was extremely or somewhat important for the specialist to develop educational programs and resources regarding produce quality and post-harvest losses. This information will be used to develop future programs. In order to extend the reach of this webinar session, and to provide a resource for attendees, all presentations were recorded, formatted, and posted to YouTube. These three videos have been viewed a combined total of 147 times to date.