The Kentucky County Ag Investment Program (CAIP) is funded through the Tobacco Master Settlement and provides resources directly to counties to incentivize best management practices for various ag commodities. The first statewide model program that became the foundation for CAIP was the Beef Genetic Improvement program which provides cost-share dollars for bull purchases based on criteria to facilitate better selection decisions. This program has been ongoing, but evolving, since 2001. Many best management practices are included as requirements such as health and reproductive soundness, but the primary genetic improvement tool is Expected Progeny Differences (EDP). Through an effort lead by the University of Kentucky Extension Service in collaboration with the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, USDA – Meat Animal Research Center, beef breed associations and Kentucky beef producers, a set of EPD guidelines were established to guide beef producers in the bull purchases. Beef producers can purchase bulls in one of four categories: Heifer Acceptable, Balanced Trait, Terminal and Carcass Merit. Starting in 2023, the bulls not only had to meet the EPD standard, but they also had to be genomically tested or have a high accuracy value. This reduces the risk of a bull performing differently than expected and gives the bull buyer a greater piece of mind. This spring, in collaboration with the American Angus Association, an analysis was conducted to see if the program was effective in improving the genetics of Kentucky’s beef herd. The results clearly showed that the program has been successful in improving many important traits, but the most telling was the fact that Kentucky went from below national average for the economic index closest related to our marketing and management systems to $9 per head above national average. When considering that we market approximately 750K head of feeder calves a year in Kentucky, this results in an increased profitability to Kentucky beef farmers of almost $7M annually. The cost-share only directly impacts about 12% of all bulls marketed, but the indirect impact of the program is clearly impactful.