Over the past 12 years there has been a strong Equine Program working within the University Of Kentucky College Of Agriculture Food & Environment. During the implementation of the Equine Program it was identified as a need of ways to reach out to small and medium size Equine Operations throughout Kentucky. One of the groups working under the Equine Program is the Pasture Forage Working Group.
This Working Group decided to conduct a Twelfth Equine Farm and Facilities Expo on a Equine Operation located in Fayette County Kentucky. They worked in conjunction with specialists from University of Kentucky College of Agriculture teamed up with Agriculture Agents in Fayette and surrounding Counties. This group of Agents worked closely together to build a partnership with the Equine Business Dealers in Central Kentucky. They worked together to recruit companies to display at the Expo. In total 25 businesses participated in the event.
The Educational programs for the event were conducted by University of Kentucky College of Agriculture Specialist and Agriculture Agents in Kentucky. The event was held on May, 2019 and it was well attended with over 200 people participating. This event attracted Equine Owners from small and medium size farms that have very little or no connection with the Cooperative Extension Service.
This event was made possible by a team of UK Specialist and Staff, Equine Business Representatives, UK Equine Programs, and Equine Farm owners and Managers along with a team of Agriculture Extension Agents.
This Event was very successful in meeting the goals of the Equine Programs and many more Equine owners are using the County Extension offices in their counties for information related to the Equine Industry than they have had in the past years.