In Greenup County and across the nation people are experiencing financial troubles. With the rising cost of goods and gasoline people need to be as self-sufficient and sustainable as possible with in their own household. Raising your own produce and livestock is an excellent way to ensure that you will never go hungry and will help to remain financially sound. This is why the Greenup county 4-H program focuses on enhancing farm income across the area by teaching our youth to raise a good market animal.

Greenup County 4-H and Greenup County FFA have partnered to develop an excellent Youth Livestock Program for our children.  Over the past year we have had over 200 county youth participate in the livestock program.  This resulted about 180 students showing livestock at the county fair and 12 4-H and FFA members showing at the Kentucky State Fair.  We had several Greenup County Youth Livestock members receive Grand Champion awards at the state fair this year. They received awards for Grand Champion Charolais, Grand Champion Simmental, and Grand Champion Kentucky Proud Cross Bred cattle.  We also had a 4-H member receive fourth place overall for his market goat.  We provide different opportunities for youth to learn about the agriculture throughout the year.  In the fall we host a clinic where we bring in guest speakers so our youth can learn from professionals involved in the industry.  With the partnership of one of our local slaughter houses we provide a meat cuts demonstration for our members.  We also started doing a field trip where we take youth to Morehead State University Farm, Bluegrass Stockyards, and the University of Kentucky Meat Research Lab.  

Our numbers in this program continue to rise; in 2018 we had 146 youth that showed livestock at the County Fair whereas this year we had 180.  Greenup County Fair is a closed show, meaning that in order to participate you have to be enrolled in 4-H or FFA in the county.  We also offer the opportunity for the members to participate in a county Skill-a-thon and Livestock Judging competition.  We had a record breaking turn out for this competition with nearly 60 county youth participating.  

As a result of our efforts the livestock sale brought $113,000 that went back to the 4-H and FFA families in Greenup County. Putting some much needed revenue in the local economy.  This program gives the county youth the opportunity to learn more about careers in agriculture, and several youth that participated reported wanting to study agriculture upon completion of high school.