The problem: Basic education for Kentucky's Beef Cattle Producers covering fundamental areas of beef cattle management and production continues to be a demand amongst the state's cattle producers.

The educational program response- While Master Cattleman is not a new program, this program has not been offered since 2019-2020. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Master Cattleman program consisted of 8-10 in-person classroom sessions; however, given changes in preferences for attending in-person events post-pandemic, the Master Cattleman program was streamlined to six in-person sessions to encourage participation and at the same time limit overlap with other beef related extension programming. The revised Master Cattleman curriculum included sessions covering marketing, reproduction, herd health, nutrition, logistics of winter feeding and facility design, and genetics. It is important to note that while Master Cattleman has been around for a long time, the 4–5-year hiatus in offering this program means that all sessions were updated to offer participants with the latest up to date information regarding best management practices for beef cattle production and management. The session I focused on was the logistics of winter feeding and (handling) facility design, an area covered by BQCA but still in need of more details for many producers.

The participants/target audience: The participants and target audience for this program was beef cattle producers from across the state. This program included six cohorts comprised of multiple counties, and included: 1) Boyd, Carter, Green, Lawerence, 2) Bourbon, Harrison, Nicholas, 3) Hardin, Larue, Meade, 4) Marion, Washington, Nelson, 5) Shelby, Trimble, Henry, 6) Clinton, Wayne, Russell.

Other partners (if applicable)

Program impact or participant response: While 363 participants completed the Master Cattleman program this year, post-program evaluations were completed by 188 participants. Participants completing the post program either owned or managed over 13,000 head of cattle, which means the overall impact of the program may have included almost twice that number of cattle based on the survey's 51.7% response rate. However, 82% of survey respondents reported that they were new or had never attended a Master Cattleman program previously. Of the participants reporting to have previously completed Master Cattleman, 55% of them reported that it had been longer than 10 years since they previously completed the program. These statistics speak to the continued need and interest of this type of program for Kentucky's beef cattle producers. Participants were asked to rate the overall quality of the facilities talk Master Cattleman program on a scale of 1 to 5, with an average response of 4.61. The even more promising information came from the level of importance identified by participant in using animal behavior in laying out a handling facility and the importance of site selection in setting up a facility with a 24% and 28% increase respectively. The survey respondents estimated a total economic impact of ~$1.44 million dollars, which based on a 51.7% response rate may actually be as high as $2.8-$3.0 million dollars. Quotes from participants included: "25 years as a cow-calf producer, I have learned many things from attending", "There was so much to learn I would take it again if its offered", "Loved it, Will do it again!!!! Thanks", and "The entire program was very informative and professional. Great job."