Based on the 2012 Census of Agriculture, beef production in Grayson County makes up over 52% of total animal sales. Therefore, beef (and forage) education continues to be a top priority for the Grayson County Cooperative Extension Service. Grayson County Cattlemen’s and Grayson County Cooperative Extension Service have had a long standing partnership with beef and forage field days in the county. This year was no different, however the two parties decided to incorporate more educational opportunities for participants of the program.  Over 200 participants attended St. Clair Angus Farm in Falls of Rough, KY which had a sale barn and handling facilities that would allow for hands-on education. Integrated Reproductive management has been a continued topic of interest to Grayson County farmers due to the amount of cattle in the county. The Agriculture and Natural Resources agent, along with the host farmer, worked with the UK Beef Specialists Dr. Les Anderson, and Ben Crites to do bull selection program based on evaluation and reading Expected Progeny Differences (EPD’s). This allowed producers to see that it takes looking at both live animals and genetic traits to understand how the bull will affect the breeding program. Robert Whitacre from ST Genetics also talked to the participants about the state of the beef industry, how they determine sexed semen, and the latest technology in the Artificial Insemination (AI) area. One farmer said “I learned more from seeing these activities firsthand than I have at any other field day I’ve attended.” It has also sparked interest in hosting an AI school for the future.

Attendees also had the opportunity to tour a pearl millet and silage plot the host farmer was growing. He is using pearl millet on a lower fertility plot, cutting it for hay and mixing it with other feed stuffs. The silage is planted in 15 inch rows and used for winter feeding of his purebred weanling bulls that he will sell in his spring sale. He also showed some corn by-products like wet distillers grains and a by-product from a corn chip plant. By verbal survey, 5 farmers have shown interest in incorporating either the by-products or the summer annuals into their feeding regimen.

Another accomplishment for this year was the inclusion of all program areas as well as a vendor area for local agribusinesses. Over 25 local agribusiness set up to talk with participants and give door prizes. One local business said “I was a little curious as to how this field day would go, only expecting about 50 people, but I was shocked by the amount of people and how well the event was pulled off. It’s very beneficial to the local farmers.” We added a small appliance cooking demonstration with the Grayson County Family and Consumer Sciences agent and utilized the new 4-H livestock club to do a youth program that included a skill-a-thon. The 4-H leader said, “We are so happy to have the youth involved in the field day. The kids loved it and the 4-Her’s had a great time doing it.”

Overall, this was a successful collaborative event that allowed all facets of the farming and agriculture community to come together to learn how to better their farming enterprises. The goal is to continue to grow this event, and possibly include other counties.