NKY Agriculture Leadership Program Aims for the Future

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, volunteerism of Americans peaked around 30% in 2004.  Today that number is closer to 25%.  This leadership decline is also apparent in the agriculture community.  This loss of leaders coupled with the great diversity of agriculture operations here in northern Kentucky, highlight the importance of having engaged farmers in organization, and part of the conversations around public policy that affect the farming community.

UK Agriculture Extension Agents from Pendleton, Campbell, Boone and Kenton Counties began working on a leadership program to address these needs in October 2018. This program had an aim of recruiting younger farmers who could become effective leaders in our region.  Extension Agents designed and implemented and 8 session series program to help these participants hone their leaders’ skills and covered such topics as effective leadership, diversity, communications, agribusiness, working with local, state and federal government officials, and policy organizations.   In addition, a retired leadership development professional mentored the participants on a project that could make a positive impact on the region’s agriculture.  The eight participants in this class worked together to form a working group to address informing the public about local farms and farm operations.  They chose to use social media to pass along relevant research based information, and news of the agriculture industry.  They launched “Ag Where You Live NKY” facebook page in March.  The group posts on this website about local markets, local products, and local issues facing the farming community.  The page currently has 75 followers.

Since the thrust of this program is develop leaders, the two participants from Kenton County that participated in NKY Ag Leadership have gone on to lead in their county.  Both participants are founders of Kenton County Farm Alliance.  Their work will result in a complete directory of all agriculture products from hay to livestock, and all direct-to-consumer products like fresh produce and meats that are grown in Kenton County.  This directory can and will be utilized online and in print which should net added sales to farm enterprises.  Additionally, the group will work on local events, like farm-to-table events that will showcase and market Kenton County farm products.  The net result is a long-term effect as farm products and farm operations are business ventures for local economic impact.