Eastern Kentucky includes thousands of acres of trees, many of which are various maples. Yet despite the presence of this obvious resource, few landowners have explored the possibility of producing maple syrup. This began to change in the late 2010's, when a few farms began to produce maple syrup. Their success has begun to draw the attention of other interested producers while simultaneously highlighting the deficit of knowledge about production of maple syrup.

To address these needs, the County Extension Agents for Agriculture & Natural Resources in four eastern Kentucky counties worked with specialists, producers, and industry experts to develop the first Kentucky Maple Syrup School. Held in Prestonsburg, the event brought together roughly 20 producers and potential producers from throughout the region, who reported that they gained knowledge from the event's instruction on sap collection techniques, cooking methods, forest health, packaging requirements, and backyard production systems.