Edmonson County is a very rural, sparsely populated county and a large percentage of that population works outside of the county. Even so, the residents of the county have a wide range of interests and needs related to agriculture. For the past several years, in an effort to address as many of those needs and interests as possible, the County Agent for Agriculture and Natural Resources has offered a multitude of educational opportunities. The past two years have included state and regional programs such as the Southern Kentucky Pesticide Training School, Forestry Webinar Series, Beef Quality and Care Assurance, Private Pesticide Applicator, as well as local, county agent programs which include Weed Control in Pastures & Hayfields, Beef Cattle Feeding & Nutrition, Farm Fencing, Forage Management, Dealing with Fescue Toxicosis, and Green house & High tunnel Basics, along with several others.  

Attendance for each program varied. For the year just completed, a total of 134 people attended the programs offered. Another 60 attended a county field day. In written evaluations of the county agent programs, 100% of participants indicated that they gained knowledge that would help them to improve their skills and help them with their decision making process.    

Many of the classes were attended by producers to get their educational component required to qualify for the County Agricultural Investment Program (CAIP). By offering these classes for producers, a total of over $70,000 in CAIP funds was able to be invested in the county for the year. In its current form, the CAIP program has been run in Edmonson County for over 8 years, with a total investment of almost $750,000. Estimated returns form these investments total over $3,000,000 in savings of commodities, infrastructure improvement, better cattle genetics, vegetable and fruit crop improvement, etc.