Cattle numbers may be small in Harlan County but producers still need educational opportunities to improve their herds.  Therefore, the Harlan County Cooperative Extension Service joined efforts with Knox and Bell Counties in Kentucky, three counties in Virginia and three counties in Tennessee to create the Cumberland Gap Cattle Conference.  

The fourth annual Cumberland Gap Cattle Conference brought together specialists from the University of Kentucky, Virginia Tech, University of Tennessee and host Lincoln Memorial University.  These specialists worked with county agents to provide timely information to producers to allow them to improve their herds thru education programing that included health, eye diseases, and reproduction.  Also, a hands on section included proper ear tagging and branding.  Also, at the end of the session, producers received basic information about transporting cattle across state lines from Kentucky, Virginia and Federal transportation officials. Those in attendance felt they had a good understanding of the transportation but will follow up with their local extension offices to learn.  

The Conference has continued to grow each year with 2019 surpassing 100 cattle producers.   Producers in the region have stated that they are glad to have the event close to home, have used the information gained to improve their herd and the Conference offers the ability to listen to specialists from four Universities in one location.