Over the years, in Boyd County we have accumulated many pieces of shared use equipment, mostly by the Extension Office and the Conservation Office. To date we have 14 separate pieces of shared use equipment between us. Some we have bought together, some individually, and yet others with leveraging grants, including 5 through the Kentucky Ag Development Fund. Some is for use with livestock, some for forages, some for erosion control and soil conditioning. All of these pieces are housed at the Extension property and I am the sole person who trains anyone wanting to use any of the equipment. Over the years I have trained hundreds on the proper use of  the equipment. 

     The reason we have concentrated so much on shared use equipment is that most of our farms are small farms that still need to do things the best, most correct way possible. I can teach all of the classes and over many programs, but if my clientele does not have the proper equipment to put into practice what they have learned, then the knowledge has minimal impact. And small, part time farms cannot afford a lot of the equipment needed to do many of the recommended practices. The shared use equipment gives them access to a lot of that equipment. Over the years, the availability of the equipment, and the lack of having to purchase it individually, it is estimated to have saved the farmers and land owners in the county, conservatively, between $800,00 and $1,0000,000 dollars.