The problem: Basic education for Kentucky's Beef Cattle Producers covering fundamental areas of beef cattle management and production specifically as it relates to marketing cattle. 

The educational program response: The Master Cattleman Program - Marketing Session presents best management practices to enhance the marketability and value of primarily feeder calves and to a lesser extent market cows and bulls. The two-hour session educates producers on the effect that feeder calf quality, seasonality of prices, lot size, shrink and weaning status has on cattle prices. Producers are presented various strategies to consider to take advantage of market conditions.

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.

Participants were asked in the post-program survey to rate their knowledge of various topics from each session before and after the program on a scale of 1 (no prior knowledge) to 5 (Very knowledgeable). 

Specific survey responses for the Marketing session are as follows: Producer understanding of Lot Size Effect on Prices - Pre-program score = 3.06 vs Post program score = 4.47 or a 46% increase in subject knowledge. Producer understanding of Seasonality Effect on Prices - Pre-program score = 2.87 vs Post program score = 4.43 or a 54% increase in subject knowledge. When asked to rate the overall usefulness of the Marketing session on a scale of 1-5, participants response averaged 4.69.