The small ruminant population in Jessamine County continues to increase and the Jessamine County Goat Producers Association continues to work hard to promote the goat production industry among the adult and youth residents. With roughly one third of the farms in the county are made up of less than 40 acres of land (USDA NASS). While this size of farm may not be very suitable for grain crops and cattle, farms of this size can support small livestock such as sheep and goat. Additionally, through improvements made in marketing options and market prices and cost-share funding available to goat producers through the County Ag. Investment Program (CAIP) the goat production enterprise is considered a viable option for many small farms and is more economical for most small farmers to pursue.

The Jessamine County Extension Office and the Jessamine County Goat Producers Association were asked to host the 2019 Kentucky Goat Producers Association Field Day. A total of 98 participants including 30 youth attended the Field Day at the Jessamine County Extension Office with program tracks for both commercial producers and youth market goat producers. The Commercial Goat Producers Program included an update on Graded Sales, Record Keeping, Goat Cheese Production, Cooking Tasty Goat, Coccidia Prevention and Treatment and Herd Management. The Youth Market Goat Program track included workshops on Nutrition and Feeding, Goat Fitting and Showing, Tools of the Trade, Slick Shearing Market Wethers, Fitting the Wether Dam and Photography for Marketing Goats. Four goat industry vendors also set up booths at the Field Day.

Participants gained knowledge through participation in the educational workshops. As a results, post evaluation surveys revealed that 73% of the participants expect to improve the efficiency or profitability of their Goat Production enterprise as a result of attending the Field Day.