Author: Eric Baker
Planning Unit: Estill County CES
Major Program: Beef
Plan of Work: Marketing, Diversifying, and Managing Local Agriculture
Outcome: Intermediate Outcome
Kentucky has 38,000 cattle farms with more than 2.15 million head. Estill County has 4,000 beef cows and 7,300 cows/calves. With livestock and commodity prices low, local cattle producers are looking for innovations that can make their farms more efficient and profitable. In response, the UK Cooperative Extension agent for agriculture and natural resources in Estill County organized an educational meeting December 14, 2019. UK Director of Environmental Compliance for the Kentucky Agricultural Experiment Station Dr. Steve Higgins presented a program entitled farm infrastructure and beef innovations. Topics covered included: 1) the importance of water quality, availability, and ease of access; 2) animal drinking and feeding behavior; 3) water stations as opposed to waterers, 4) harvesting water; 5) cleaning water reservoirs; 6) placement of water stations and rotational fencing; and 7) solar and wind innovations for powering water stations. Eighteen producers attended with thirteen completing end-of-meeting survey. Survey results indicate 92% leaned a lot, 100% said they have a better understanding of the importance of water availability and access for livestock, and 92% will use the information presented to improve their farming operation and profitability. Several surveys included positive comments such as excellent speaker, talked about issues I had never thought of, very interesting, and a high energy talk.
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