The Kentucky State University (KSU) Small Farm Program is an Extension program designed to help farm families with decision-making skills to solve farm and home problems. It includes educational programs that emphasize farm production, farm management, and marketing.  It also includes the use and understanding of local county programs and USDA agencies and their programs, plus providing technical assistance in completing applications for the program and the entire application process.  The KSU Small Farm Outreach Training and Technical Assistant Coordinator for Small Farms works with small, limited-resource, and minority farmers, most of whom have not used Extension prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.  He targets minority farmers, farmers who are new to Extension, or farmers who think that Extension is not for them.  First he has to gain their confidence.  Then he has to show them that he can help them to meet some of their needs. 

This is his experience with one family that requested technical assistance in Madison County, Kentucky. 

When the KSU Small Farm Outreach Training and Technical Assistant Coordinator first was introduced to the farmer in Madison County, Kentucky the farmer spoke very highly of his grandparents he stated that they had a diversified small farming operation which consisted of chickens, cattle and tobacco.  The farmer’s father and older brother currently lives on the farm in Madison County, Kentucky.  His brother and he are investigating different enterprises within agriculture before selecting any particular one. 

For the last seven years the farmer has been attending Kentucky State University three programs of distinction which are KSU Paw Paw Program, KSU Aquaculture Program and the monthly 3^rd Thursday Thing Workshops. 

The farmer was interested in learning how to grow beauregard sweet potatoes; so the KSU Small Farm Outreach Training and Technical Assistant Coordinator agreed in providing him technical assistance in an on farm demonstration on how to grow beauregard sweet potatoes. 

On May 15, 2023 the KSU Small Farm Outreach Training and Technical Assistant Coordinator, emailed the farmer a publication for sweetpotato production for Kentucky ID-195 from University of Kentucky.  The farmer was asked to read the publication first.

Then on May 13, 2023 the farmer was presented the sweet potatoe slips by Mr. Terrence G. Young, KSU Extension intern student. See picture below:

  Farmer in Madison County, Kentucky applying lime on June 14, 2023 to sweet potatoe plot.