A Nontraditional Audience

               A nontraditional audience was one of the topics that was brought up in our Agriculture Advisory Council this winter. Livingston is a very rural county, the 2007 Census of Agriculture reports that there are a total of 492 farms in Livingston County. The report also states that 36% of Livingston County income comes from livestock, forage, and grain production. Also in Livingston County there are four towns and some quit different clientele from our traditional farming community. For example Grand Rivers KY in Livingston County has a thriving tourism being right on Kentucky and Barkley Lake. Communities like these draw a wide variety of people which also have a need for Agricultural services that can be offered by Cooperative Extension ANR.

               Even with non-farming population of Livingston County there are wide range of agricultural needs.  A lot of our local home owners maintain home vegetable gardens, lawns, and beautiful landscapes. This winter Livingston County ANR started a series of hands on classes to address some interests and needs of this set of clientele.  We offered classes on basic vegetable production, small space gardening, and how to make concrete landscape containers.

                 As a direct effect, lawn and garden soil samples are starting to increase to the Livingston office. Also there is more awareness and interest in the services we have to offer to the community. Another great effect that came out of these classes was, a small but diverse group of people ranging from retirees, home owners, and youth has come together to enjoy learning about various urban agricultural topics.