A lack of affordable family friendly activities is regularly cited in community surveys as a challenge for the growing communities in Nelson County.   The Nelson County Bale trail was started in 2020 during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic when social distancing was encouraged.  The trail was patterned after existing projects but enhanced to include educational components and to encourage agritourism throughout Nelson County.   After  continued success and positive feedback, 2024 was the 5^th year for the Nelson County Bale Trail.  The trail also serves as a family friendly, free agritourism adventure, it also as a fundraiser for Nelson County 4-H raising over $4,000 over 5 years to support youth development programs.

The 2024 trail saw 20 displays located at 15 different stops throughout the county.  13 community partners including Bardstown Tourism and two road side markets were involved in providing this fun community event that was free for participants to take part in.  The social media interaction for the project was outstanding with over 96,000 views and 2,937 votes for the fan favorite.  This social media interaction brings new viewers to Nelson County Cooperative Extension content and to community partners social media pages.     In 2024, the Bale trail partnered with Kentucky Ag in the classroom to drive traffic to their online virtual farm field trip series.  These educational videos had over 290 views.

From the small town of Fairfield that set up a Bale Trail Display: “Participating in the Bale Trail brought new people, new curiosity and some revenue to the community of Fairfield. Once they enjoyed seeing our display, they visited the little grocery store across the road and also drove through the town to see other sights in Fairfield.”