Henry County, Kentucky is home to around 23,000 beef animals. The efforts of Henry County Agriculture Extension has successfully shifted focus to reflect the high number of beef operations. Henry County producers have shown a great interest in practical educational opportunity. This is demonstrated by the surprisingly high participation in summer field days. For the past three years, the Henry County Extension Office and Henry County Cattlemen’s Association have partnered on a June field day. Summer programming is notorious for low attendance. The exception has been for these field days. The topics have been practical and hands on. Last year’s topic was fencing. This year’s topic followed a similar theme and focused on cattle waterers. Outside of the Cattlemen’s Association, the ANR agent partnered with the local NRCS District Conservationist to explain programs available through their office to assist with cattle waterer development on farms. Dr. Chris Teutsch provided a demonstration on using temporary watering systems with rotational grazing. The ANR agent also partnered with two local farm businesses to provide two different permanent watering systems for the farmers to look at. Dr. Teutsch explained the pros and cons of each system. The ANR agent then made an opportunity for a local water company employee to speak about pressure and meters specific to Henry County. The farmers in the audience appreciated the hyper local information.

63 individuals attended this meeting. The outcomes for this educational program are long term. Attendees will use this information when planning a watering system on their farm. Several stated that they would use this information when using CAIP money in the county. Some indicated that they were especially interested in the rotational grazing watering system after Dr. Teutsch demonstrated how easy it was to use. The practical advice and tips given by all the speakers will make the largest impact. Farmers learned to avoid costly mistakes, or how to fix ones that already exist on their farm.