Author: Levi Berg
Planning Unit: Clark County CES
Major Program: Farm Management, Economics and Policy
Plan of Work: Henry County Livestock Production
Outcome: Intermediate Outcome
Due to Henry County’s topography and soil, animal production has always been strong with in Henry County. According to the 2017 Census of Agriculture, Henry County has over $14,000,000 in animal sales, and the average age of the farmer is 57.6 years old according to the USDA Census of Agriculture. With this knowledge, the Henry County Extension Office places livestock production as a high regard. The Shelby County Extension office would want to restart the Stockman’s College to help provide in depth education to youth raising livestock. Participants could choose between three different class routes: beef, swine, and small ruminants. This way the participants would learn in depth information about the species they were most interested in. Also, general classes were offered such as whole lamb butchering, forage identification, animal identification, hoof trimming, meat identification and judging, and much more. The Shelby County Extension Office invited the Henry County Extension office to be part of the planning and teaching of the programs. The Henry County Extension Office took on the challenge of teaching the participants about forage identification, nutritional aspects of each forage, and benefits of raising the different forages. With help of UK Forage Specialist, demonstration plants were available, so the participants would see a growing forage instead of only seeing a powerpoint of the plants. Also, the Henry County Ag Agent assisted in the whole lamb butchering demonstration, and the Henry County Extension Office also heavily publicized the to help spread the word about the great program being hosted by the Shelby County Extension Office. Overall, 90 individuals were at the Stockman’s College: 87 white, 3 african American. Forty-nine participants were female, and 41 males. There were also 25 volunteers that assisted with teaching or setup. Overall, the youth were able to learn skills in which they could take back to their farms and increase the production of their livestock. Planning for 2020 will start shorting due to the large success and participants asking for the program again.
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