This past August Calloway County extension assisted state specialist, state NRCS and conservation district staff along with several industry representatives in hosting a multi-state regional field day. The event was very successful on a programmatic scale as we had over 100 participants present, due to the layout of the farm we were able to divide them into small groups and space them out to limit exposure. On the county level the successes were even greater than attendance numbers. First, we were able to have one of our farms and farm families recognized for the great work they are doing implementing several extension practices to make a small family farm profitable. We had Ag Communications come down and do a highlight on the host farm family so they could discuss their history and how they have been successful in developing niche marketing channels. Secondly, the turn out adnd positive nature of the event gave out local cattlemen’s group enough encouragement to start promoting their (and extension’s) efforts to expand the cattle industry in the purchase area. They formed a county level group and plan to start a membership drive in the fall of 2021. They have already proven to be very good partners with extension as we plan for a hay testing contest this summer.

Youtube Link: https://youtu.be/lk0OKlVUxVs