Cooperative Extension Agents are continuously looking for ideas to help reach new audiences to educate and communicate. Agriculture and Natural Resources Agents Matt Adams (Hardin), Whitney Carman (Grayson) and Daniel Carpenter (LaRue) specifically were looking for ways to reach the young farmer population, a group that can be difficult to reach in the current educational methods. One way that the agents looked into is podcasting. Podcasting uses the internet to make recordings of broadcasts available on computer or mobile device.  In research conducted by Nielson, over 50% of the American population have listened to a podcast, and the average listener age is 12-24. The Agriculture and Natural Resources agents themselves use agriculture podcasts specifically to learn about current agriculture events and to learn new techniques. They realized it would be a good way to bridge Extension education into a conversational format that farmers could listen to anytime they want, whether that’s in the tractor cab, driving down the road, or sitting at the farm office working on paperwork.

Located in the near west/central Kentucky area, the three agents have common goals and agriculture areas, therefore a plan was developed to record a weekly podcast on current events and topics related to the tri-county area. Uniquely enough, the podcast launched as COVID-19 was ramping up, so the means to get information across outside of the office was apparent. Using Zoom online, the agents were able to record the podcasts to keep farmers in the know about cattle markets, CFAP programs, planting issues, weather, and programs that were going to online formats. Agents researched and use a podcast host website where content can be held, edited, and statistical information on listenership is housed. The host website also allows for the podcast to be streamed through other podcast apps such as Apple Podcast, Spotify, etc.

Based on listenership through the first 14 weeks, the agents discovered that the listenership grows based on the topic, and the format. They realized that when they had one to two short interviews with specialists or guests while finishing up with conversation between the agents, they received more listeners.  They also saw that keeping the podcast to 45 minutes had higher listenership. This time frame also allowed for the local radio station in LaRue County to pick up the podcast and use it on its Saturday morning broadcast. This has helped listenership grow even in ways the agents were not expecting from the beginning.

To date, there are 1249 downloads, and the average listenership is 70 people, with the first episode and the episode explaining the COVID-19 Food Assistance Program being the most listened to. This does not include the weekly listenership from the local radio station, which reaches all of LaRue County and Eastern Hardin County. Sixty-five percent of downloads came from the Apple Podcast app, and 17% came directly from the podcast host website. Eighty-one percent of the episodes were downloaded on a mobile device. The podcast has been downloaded in 49 cities and 15 states.

One listener responded in a review “I’d like to say it’s a no-nonsense source for agriculture information – but it’s not, this host trio offers just the right balance of relevant and timely discussions about issue confronting agriculture, with a little bit of fun.”  An Extension Specialist reviewed the podcast and responded, “I just listened to Dirt2$ for the first time this morning. As a millennial and avid podcast listener, I wanted to compliment you all on how well it was produced and your audio quality. The number one thing that will make me shut off a podcast is if it isn’t pleasant to listen to. I also like the length of the episodes, half hour episodes feel so short and rushed, and if it’s over an hour there is a good chance I won’t get to take it all in at one sitting.”

As an initial outcome, the agents feel like they have reached a niche clientele and are able to use this form of education and information to promote more Extension programs in the future.