Over the last few years Boyle County has seen an uptick in young, and/or beginning farmers. These new farmers span a wide range of experience level and types of enterprises. With the increase in calls and meetings from this beginner group, the Boyle County ANR and Horticulture Agents developed and implemented an educational program series to answer some of the most asked questions using experts within the field.

The series focused on providing participants with a foundation of knowledge to build their farming enterprise with. The topics within the series included, building a business plan and record keeping, an introduction to the FSA and funding sources, and farm design and layout.  Specialists from the University of Kentucky were utilized as guest speakers as well as partner organizations such as USDA FSA, Kentucky State University and KCARD. 

Results

• 80% of participants indicated their farming operation didn't have a business plan.
  •  After this session 75% of participant indicated they are likely to create a business plan for their farming operation. 
• 100% of participants learned about new funding sources for their farm. 
• 100% of participants discovered new ways to plan farm infrastructure.
  • 100% of participants report they were likely to very likely to improve their farm infrastructure because of the session.