Madison County is one of the fastest growing counties in Kentucky. Several new residents are from out of state and some are purchasing a farm for the first time. As such, there are many things to learn about getting started with owning land or a farm. More than just production aspects, the business side of farming can be daunting. There is a need to educate both experienced and beginning farmers alike.

The Madison County Horticulture Agent and ANR Agent partnered on a series called “The Business of Farming”. This series was for current or future farmers and covered the business basics associated with farming. Since this series was not focused on production, the information applied to all types of farms and farmers.

The series had three sessions: Ag Lending and Local Resources, Insurance and Ag Taxes, and Farm Management/Decision Making Tools.

Survey results indicated that:

1. 68% currently owned a farm. Interest varied among attendees. Of those that currently farmed, nearly two thirds raised livestock of some kind. The participants that were considering farming in the future were more equally spread between livestock production and horticulture crops.
2. 96% had a better understanding of farm taxes.
3. Only 10% said they currently had a business plan for their farm. Those that did not have a business plan in place said they were likely to use resources and information offered during the program to complete one.
4. 75% of the participants indicated a willingness to use a farm financial scorecard to assess the farm’s financial health while 85% plan to use enterprise budgets to project profitability and manage costs.

An added benefit of this program was that several new programming ideas came from both discussions with the participants and their evaluations feedback.