Burley tobacco production in Madison County has declined dramatically since the mid-1990’s, falling from a top 3 producer in the state to its current position of only 8 growers and not enough acreage to be listed as a tobacco growing county by National Ag Statistics Servie. Among other enterprises, former tobacco farmers have increased the number of beef cattle in their operations to offset lost tobacco income. Madison County currently ranks 2^nd in the state for beef cattle production with 71,000 head and 2^nd for hay other than alfalfa with nearly 52,000 acres of hay harvested each year. Beef and forage production are mainstays of the agricultural economy in Madison County and as such, many local producers invest significant amounts of time, machinery, infrastructure, and money into hay production. 

In order to help our farmers become better and more efficient hay producers, the Madison and Estill County Extension Agents for Agriculture and Natural Resources partnered to offer the first in the area Haymaking Short Course. This program took place over 10 weeks from February to April and consisted of 6 classroom sessions held at both Madison and Estill County Extension Offices. Speakers included UK Extension Specialists and Madison County Extension Agriculture Extension Agent, Brandon Sears. There were 6 sessions that offered covering a range of topics including: haymaking overview/cool season forages, soils and fertility, machinery and marketing, warm season forages/baleage, hay production economics and hayfield weed control. A binder was compiled for each participant that included all handouts and presentation material. The final educational opportunity included a tour of UK Extension Forage Variety Trials at Spindletop farm in Lexington. Twenty six participants took part in the school. Surveys were given before and after to measure knowledge gained. Fifty nine percent of participants considered themselves to have no knowledge or beginning level knowledge prior to start of the school. At the conclusion, 87% of participants considered themselves as having intermediate or above average knowledge of the topics presented. 

Farmers who do a better job of hay production will increase feed quality to their livestock and reduce input costs thus helping our local agriculture economy increase in value as well as providing long term stability.