My beef program is by far my strongest extension program in Clark County. Being one of the largest cow-calf producing counties in the state, Clark County farmers are always anxious to learn how to make their herds production exceed years past. This creates a perfect environment for successful extension programming and the Beef Night of Winter School 2020 proved to be just that!

With the ongoing advertisements of many alternative meat options that are being adopted by numerous long standing fast-food chains, many farmers are wondering how their traditional meat products that they raise on their farms will be able to compete with this new trending product. To bring light to this issue, in an effort to educate and inform producers I brought in University of Kentucky Meat Scientist Dr Gregg Rentfrow to present to the group at Winter School 2020 about how “fake meat” is produced and how they can advocate to grow support for traditional agriculture meat markets.

Dr Renfrow’s presentation was a hit! Most producers that attended the meeting said that they felt more confident in being able to advocate for their industry and educate the public about the many advantages of choosing to eat traditional meat options (beef, pork, chicken) rather than plant based, and lab grown meats. This was really a pep-rally event and a moral booster for the local beef producing community. As agriculture producers we must become better at telling our story if we are to survive in competitive market conditions, and Winter School 2020 prepared Clark County Beef producers to do just that.