Years ago tobacco was the major crop for Mason County farmers. According to the Census of Agriculture from 2012 to 2017 the total acreage of tobacco grown in Mason County has decreased by 1300 acres and continues to decline. Farmers have been desperately looking for a new crop to help increase their income and have turned to growing industrial hemp. The Buffalo Trace Agriculture and Horticulture agents partnered together to offer a series of field days and workshops to further grower education. 

The first field day offered showed farmers with hands-on demonstrations how to lay plastic and what was needed for drip irrigation. Numerous producers contacted the extension service for additional information regarding suppliers and setting up their system before the growing season. The second field day had four specialist that offered growers hands-on education on agronomic basics, future harvesting technology, disease & insect identification and control.  The last workshop of the hemp series was offered for potential growers to learn the first steps to becoming a hemp farmer. Agents spoke about the different types of hemp grown, budget worksheets, soil sampling, irrigation systems, and harvesting. In addition the hemp specialist for Kentucky Department of Agriculture, went over the key points of the hemp application and left plenty of time for questions. 

The series of workshops offered was in high demand in the Buffalo Trace area as farmers look for industrial hemp to increase their farm income. For each program we had over 100 participants attend with hands-on learning to entice their skills for growing hemp.