Success StoryBallard County Farm Bill Training Session



Ballard County Farm Bill Training Session

Author: Thomas Miller

Planning Unit: Ballard County CES

Major Program: Ag Policy

Plan of Work: Farm Bill Producer and Landowner Education

Outcome: Initial Outcome

The sign-up process for the 2020 Farm Bill left producers with many questions and options they needed to consider when signing up each of their individual farm numbers.  FSA is forbidden from helping producers make these decisions so it has been a long standing tradition for Tom Miller, Ballard County Extension Agent for Ag and Natural Resources to partner with the Ballard/ McCracken FSA office to help educate farmers on how to make the best decisions for their operations.  On January 7, 2020, Fifty seven producers attended a training session at the Ballard County Extension Office.  Tom Miller conducted the meeting, showing what stayed the same and what changed in the new Farm Bill and gave demonstrations of a calculator developed at the University of Illinois and spread sheets developed at Kansas State University that allowed each producers to enter their own production information to determine the proper decision to be made for their individual operations.  Melissa Myers, local FSA CED was on hand to answer any procedural questions about the sign–up process.  At the conclusion of the meeting a producer survey showed that 93 % of attendees felt more comfortable with the decisions they needed to make and 86% felt they could now make the decisions on their own.  After the meeting, Tom Miller performed many one on one sessions with growers and especially with Land owners over the next 2 months at the request of the FSA to help people make the best decisions.  






Stories by Thomas Miller


WAVE Ag Iniative, Counties Working Together

about 3 years ago by Thomas Miller

Started in 2017, to replace its predecessor “Ballard County Ag Day”, “WAVE AG Day” has become a very... Read More


Land Evaluaton and Advice in times of shutdown

about 3 years ago by Thomas Miller

Just after the closure of the state from corona virus and working from home, Tom Miller, Ballard Cou... Read More


Stories by Ballard County CES


Foods

Foods

about 3 years ago by Paula Jerrell

Ballard County promoted the weekly Baking Challenge provided by Cathy Weaver of Jessamine. We had ei... Read More


Project kits were a huge success

Project kits were a huge success

about 3 years ago by Paula Jerrell

During the COVID-19 situation of spring and summer of 2020, Ballard County 4-H provided 1149 project... Read More


Stories by Ag Policy


Early Career Farming Program - Local Government

Early Career Farming Program - Local Government

about 3 years ago by Mattea Mitchell

Early Career Farming Program (ECFP) - Local Government Carlisle, Fulton and Hickman County had a mar... Read More


WAVE 4 River Ag Initiative

WAVE 4 River Ag Initiative

about 3 years ago by Mattea Mitchell

With 83.53% of the land in all four river counties used for crop production, agriculture holds a str... Read More