2018 was Kentucky’s wettest year on record causing livestock producers to deal with excessive and unprecedented mud, poor quality hay, ruined pastures, scours, poor nutrition and calving issues. Local veterinarians reported high cattle loss numbers especially among marginal cows and weak calves. Utilizing resources developed by UK Extension Beef Specialists, a series of meetings was developed for local producers to not only understand and combat this issue, but also how to prepare for continued wet weather conditions.  The series was planned by a local veterinarian and county Ag board members. The series was also supplemented by the cow/calf management demonstration herd at the Extension Farm where participants saw firsthand the difficulties associated with thin cattle. Ninety percent of producers indicated new knowledge gained while 70% reported they would be changing or adding practices.  Attended by more than fifty producers, results of this series include:

1. The construction of ten new winter feeding systems to combat mud,

2. Increased numbers of hay samples and ration balance reports,

3. More soil samples and seeding recommendation requests,

4. And, greater numbers of farmers now using body condition scoring to evaluate their herds.