After delivering the Backgrounding / Stocker Profitability Conference in a virtual format in March of 2022, it was determined that there was sufficient demand to offer the program in an in-person format across Kentucky during the winter of 2022 / 2023. Programs were held in Bowling Green, Lexington, Columbia, and Elizabethtown between November of 2022 and March of 2023. The program was modified from the virtual format and also updated such that examples and illustrations would be current and focused on growing programs being considered by producers at the time of delivery.

The resulting programs ran for roughly 5 hours in each location and included educational presentations by Greg Halich, Kenny Burdine, and Jonathan Shepherd. The full-day format allowed for great depth of discussion, but also represented a significant time commitment on the part of attendees. Still, we were pleased with attendance at the programs as a total of 109 individuals attended one of the four conferences in Bowling Green (19), Lexington (36), Columbia (11) and Elizabethtown (43). The programs were very well received and evaluations from the programs were positive (see table 1).

Table 1. Evaluation Ratings by Presentation Topic

(5=excellent, 4=good, 3= fair, 2=poor, 1= very poor)