The Simpson County Ag Advisory Council identified agricultural awareness as a priority in Extension programming due to a distinct disconnect between the producer and consumer. They worked with the Extension Agent for Agriculture to develop, implement and evaluate a series of programs in 2018 that focused on agricultural awareness.

One of these programs was the North Simpson Twilight Farm Tour. The tour focused on agriculture in the Northern tier of Simpson County and was intended to showcase the diversity of agriculture in this area of the county, highlight changes in technology, increase participants knowledge about the food production process, introduce new crop systems and emphasize the economic impact of agriculture. The tour included agritourism, pumpkin production, beekeeping, grain production utilizing center pivot irrigation, new technology in grain systems, organic beef and hay production, direct-to-consumer meat products and practices to improve environmental stewardship. The tour began at the Simpson County Extension office where participants loaded a bus that would travel from farm to farm. 

The tour was tremendously successful with a capacity crowd of 71 participants with varying ethnicities and backgrounds. According to post-program evaluations, 100% of participants increased their knowledge about agriculture in Simpson County due to information presented during the tour, and all participants indicated that they would attend a similar tour in the future. Evaluations reflected that participants gained new knowledge of agriculture from each farm that was included on the tour. Some specific quotes and comments from participants included: “I didn’t realize how diverse our agriculture is here and the immense technology involved.”, “I did not know there were any organic farms in Simpson County.”, “I learned much more about bees, irrigation and regulations.” and, “I better understand how Kentucky farmers are involved in worldwide trade markets.”