Kentucky farmers produce a wide range of specialty crops. In 2017, fruit and vegetable production in Kentucky was valued at $41.6 million.  Specialty crops are susceptible to a range of diseases and pests that may limit produce yield and/or quality.  County Extension agents are the first line of contact with the UK Extension Service, but they often request additional training and support for specialty crop practices. Thus, there is a constant need for continuing education for agents. 

Extension specialists for fruit and vegetable production developed and facilitated a webinar series during Fall 2019. Bi-weekly programs were streamed to county offices each evening, with a different crop featured each month.  The program began with strawberry production in September and continued with high tunnels, pumpkins, and tomatoes.  County Extension agents hosted events for local growers at 41 different county offices. Further, agents utilized these webinars for both continuing education and to evaluate the webinar format as a means for future county programming.

A total of 41 different county agents participated across all sessions. Forty nine percent of participating agents indicated that this new format of specialist-provided programs was appropriate for future programming for specialty crop growers. As a result of participating in this webinar series, agents anticipated hosting or presenting a similar program independent of specialist or with indirect specialist involvement (14%), hosting and using a combination of self-presented and recorded versions of specialist presentations to provide a program independent of specialists or with indirect specialist involvement (21%), repurpose this information to be used in newsletters, articles, and/or social media (28%), and use this information to improve ability to assist growers and answer grower questions (27%). The surveys found that 67% of agents definitely would or likely would develop independent county/district programs if provided with and trained on specialty crops program modules.        

This program format resulted in improved audience reach, while reducing travel costs and time for Specialists. Additional webinar series are being planned for 2021, and work to develop modules for agent use will begin this fall.