The problem

Livingston County is largely a river county; it has the Ohio, the Cumberland, and the Tennessee rivers that flow through it. This makes our county a little different than other counties as far as row crop and forage production is concerned. Our county’s most fertile and productive soils are in the river bottoms that generally flood twice a year. Our upland soils generally have steep slopes and shallow soils more suited for livestock production. Having said this, the sale of farm products accounts for much of the income in Livingston County. The main cash receipts for the county come from corn, soybeans, hay, and livestock sales. 

Livingston County uses a large amount of warm season annuals for emergency or supplemental forage crops in its marginal parts of the river bottoms. In the late winter Livingston ANR approached Dr.Rebecca Atkinson from SIU about the work she was doing with new varieties of forage soybeans. After talking with her several times she helped secure the seed for Livingston County to have its own forage soybean study in the county. The purpose of this study was to compare four varieties of Roundup ready and two varieties of non-Roundup ready forage soybeans utilized for hay grown in river bottoms. Forage soybeans were planted in marginal river bottoms that are typically used for emergency hay in Livingston County, KY. These bottoms are unique in that soil quality is better than a typical hay field but are not typically planted into alfalfa. Therefore, finding an alternative forage source for hay is of importance. 

Educational program response

The study started last spring with Livingston ANR getting one of Livingston county farmers volunteering to supply the ground and equipment to plant and harvest the hay. The study was a great success generating a good amount of interest in this for another option for annual hay crops in the county. The data was collected and presented to our CEC council in one of our meetings that directly resulted in a larger interest in our Agriculture Advisory Council. 

Program impact

As a direct result of this trial, Livingston ANR is running another trial this spring with two more Livingston farmers this year. Livingston Advisory council said they feel like this is a great opportunity to show how our local extension office can help impact our local farmers. Whether the forage soybeans are viable or not, it shows the local farming community that our county office listens to local needs and wants.