The Master Cattleman Program is the flagship educational program for Kentucky cattle producers. It incorporates all phases of beef production into an intensive educational effort challenging Kentucky beef producers to be competitive and successful. Participants receive 40 hours of classroom instruction divided equally among 10 topic areas: 

• Management skills for the beef business 
• Forage production and utilization 
• Nutrition for optimum production 
• Environmental stewardship
• Industry issues
• Genetics for the beef herd
• Managing reproduction
• Herd health
• Understanding the end product
• Marketing and profitability

“The program is designed to increase producers’ overall productivity and profitability,” said Ben Crites, Beef Integrated Resource Management Coordinator for the UK College of Agriculture, Food and Environment.

The program is offered at multiple sites throughout Kentucky yearly but rarely makes its way into far western Kentucky. Western Kentucky Agriculture Agents pulled together and urged the hosting specialists from the animal science department at the university to bring this great program to the west.

Marshall County Agriculture and Natural Resources Agent, Nikki Bell, hosted the event. There are around 10,650 head of cattle in Marshall County and these producers makeup the largest percentage of farmers in the county.

Each participant had to attend at least eight of the ten sessions and have a current Beef Quality Assurance certification to successfully complete the program. Thirty producers graduated from the Marshall County class. These producers left the program holding a binder filled with recommendations and notes to guide them in future decisions on their farms.

One producer claimed,"I have been farming for several years now, and I have been raising cattle for a while now too. The two main things I want to reflect on from this class are the forages and the facilities (infrastructure) programs. Forages was wonderful! I in turn used the information I learned on my own farm....(This class) also reinforced my confidence and confirmed some of the things I was already doing on my own farm. The facilities presentation was phenomenal. I want to visit the example facility (the Eden Shale Farm) someday so I can implement some of that ( recommended practices used at Eden Shale) on my farm....We are diversifying things on our farm and this program jump started my enthusiasm to make my dream farm. This program made me believe that with the help of Cooperative Extension Service's resources and support, I could do it!  I cannot put a value on that connection and the relationship producers have with Extension ."
 

The 2017 Master Cattleman program has also sparked many new clientele to utilize the services the Cooperative Extension Service has to offer. Many beef producers took their first ever forage samples to the Marshall County Extension Office. Why is this significant? According to the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, testing forages can mean higher profit, knowing the nutritional value will help you minimize your cost and maximize your production, forage quality can be  compared year-to-year and this information can be used to evaluate and improve forage management practices and determine least-cost measures, the analysis report assists producers in balancing feed rations for their livestock. A ration balance will help maintain a healthy diet, and forage testing helps determine fair market value and establish an equitable price for forage sales. After, servicing their forage samples, Nikki has also helped producers with forage plans and feed rations. Nikki hopes the relationships she built with producers will grow and these producers will become long time Extension supporters if they are not already.