COVID-19, social distancing and additional restrictions presented many challenges in providing Extension programs for our local stakeholders.  However, with challenges come opportunities to create, new and innovative methods for presenting information.  Clientele expressed the desire for beef programs but were no longer able to attend local Cattlemen’s Association meetings or University of Kentucky beef meetings.

Therefore, the Simpson and Butler County Extension Agents for Agriculture developed a beef economics program that would be held exclusively on Zoom video conferencing technology.  The program was entitled, “Understanding the Economics of Your Beef Operation for Improved Profits” and was comprised of a 3-part series in the month of February with each topic featuring University of Kentucky Beef Specialists.  The program titles were as follows:  “Economics of Hay Production”, “Economics of Using Hay and Commodity Feeds to Provide a Balanced Ration” and “COVID-19 Effects on the Beef Cattle Market”.  Simpson and Butler County Extension Agents along with clientele input planned, implemented and evaluated this program.  Evaluations were presented on Qualtrics at the end of each session.  

There were 33 registrations (via zoom online registration) for this program from Simpson and Butler Counties.  At least one session was during inclement winter weather.  This presentation method allowed us to keep clientele and specialists safe from traveling while not canceling the program.  Many of the participants are not traditional Extension clientele and reported they prefer this method of learning.  Additionally, post meeting evaluations revealed that:   87% of participants felt that the program helped them understand the true cost of producing hay,  38% believe they could be more profitable by adjusting the amount of hay equipment they use, 100 % of attendees felt they had a better understanding of how to meet their beef herd’s nutritional needs, and other useful data.  One producer commented that we provided “great information, it’s easy to not count all the costs of your hay”.