It is no secret that over the past 100 years the United States, and Kentucky as a whole, has experienced a decrease in farmers. However, according to a recent USDA census those statistics may be beginning to change. In 2007 the USDA reported the first increase in the number of farms since 1920. As a result, colleges are also staring to notice and are providing more options for agriculture related degrees. While these things suggest agriculture is once again moving forward, local universities are finding that students entering the College of Agriculture as freshman know very little about agriculture, while even more students say they shied away from agriculture degrees because they just didn’t know about all the job options a degree from the college of agriculture could provide. The problem is that there is very little agriculture info trickling down into our state high schools.

One state high school that is addressing the needs for more agriculture education, is Kentucky School for the Deaf, which is now primarily home to youth who aren't just deaf, but have a combination of disabilities.  Every summer KSD offers a two week ‘Ag Camp’ that introduces high school aged campers, often for the first time, to the world of Agriculture. As part of their two week camp, the Boyle County Horticulture agent met with campers to teach them about grafting and propagation. Campers were able to graft vegetable plants, and made propagation chambers for stem, leaf, and root cuttings.  Campers learned why grafting is important to the horticulture industry, and what kind of job opportunities are available to those wanting to study horticulture.