By Kentucky Sheep and Goat Development Office
Saturday, October 19th was a beautiful day for the 2024 KY Annual Producer Conference in Flemingsburg, KY. Over sixty-five sheep and goat producers gathered to spend the day in fellowship and learning.
The morning session was dedicated to learning about farmland transition, small ruminant education opportunities, and association meetings. Renee Carrico, Kentucky Farm Bureau, started the day by explaining the KFB Farmland Transition Initiative, which was started in 2024. The goal of the initiative is to help slow the rate of farmland loss in the state of Kentucky. Currently, our state loses 200 acres of agriculture land per day! The initiative pulls resources to help farm owners explore ways to keep their property in production ag, whether that is by leaving it as inheritance or starting a transition process with a beginning farmer. Renee explained the challenges of transitions and how the initiative can connect land owners with lawyers, certified public accountants, or just provide a sounding board. (All members were provided more information on this topic through a VIP event on October 22nd where Aleta Botts, KFLT project leader, provides next step suggestions for folks who have not started or completed a transition process.) Sixty-one percent of the participants said they have not started a farmland transition plan, but 39% planned to start after the conference.
Next up was Kelley Yates who did a short unveil of the 2023 KSGDO Annual Report. The annual report is a chance for KSGDO to let all the stakeholders know what we have accomplished in the past year. The main focus was made on the educational opportunities provided to producers. In 2023, KSGDO offered seven online courses ranging in topics from quality assurance, parasites, nutrition, grazing, genetics, fiber production, and the comprehensive production course SRPS. Results from these courses are staggering as 100% of participants report the courses helping them make improvements to their operations. To further enhance these educational opportunities by creating more content and in-person components, conference attendees were split into groups based on years of production and asked to provide topics/concerns that they need to have addressed. Group leaders facilitated the conversations and recorded ideas. The KSGDO Board and contractors will review the lists for opportunities in 2025.
Last but not least, the morning session moved to the association business meetings. Each association conducted online and in-person voting for their association minutes, treasurer reports, and board of director elections. You can see the results at https://www.kysheepandgoat.org/annual-producer-conference. As part of the KSWPA meeting, American Sheep Industry Representative, Lisa Weeks, explained how ASI impacts each state’s sheep industry and how they work to provide sheep producers across the country solid marketing opportunities, education, and promotion. All members received goodies from the American Lamb Board as well. KGPA members learned more about laparoscopic AI from Dr. Hannah Stokley, DVM, Bluegrass Mobile Vet. Ninety-three of the conference attendees said they felt more connected to other association members and better understood what their association did for them.
All attendees had a delicious lunch of lamb and goat brats. The goat brats were provided by Janet Quarles, Quarles Meats, and the lamb brats were from Schwartz Meat Company. After lunch, each association broke out to do farm tours. KGPA went to Jeff Rice’s Hickory Hollow Farm in Sharpsburg, KY, and KSWPA went to Zack and Margaret Schwartz’s Schwartz Show Stock and Meat Company. At both farms, participants were able to see indoor working facilities, barn layouts, pasture management, forage management, and much more. Ninety-three percent of the attendees said they found the farm visits helpful.
The 2025 Annual Conference will be held on October 18th.
Thank you to our conference sponsors!
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