By Jennifer Elwell
The University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service, part of the Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment (CAFE), invites cattle producers from across the state to attend the first Kentucky Cow-Calf Summit on Thursday, Oct. 29, at the L.D. Brown Ag Expo Center in Bowling Green.
Under the theme “Building Opportunity,” the summit will give cow-calf producers practical information and a forum to explore financing, land access, succession planning and strategic growth.
“We built an agenda that we felt really tried to address the challenges identified at the leadership conference, such as land availability, getting the next generation involved and really addressing some of the barriers to entry within the beef industry,” said Katie VanValin, Ph.D., assistant Extension professor of beef cattle nutrition at Martin-Gatton CAFE.
The summit grew out of the 2025 Mid-South Beef Leadership Conference, where Kentucky and Tennessee producers, county agents and industry leaders identified access to land and involving the next generation in farming as two pressing concerns for the beef industry.
Featured speakers include Steve Isaacs, Ph.D., UK Extension farm management specialist, who will discuss how goal setting connects daily decisions with a producer’s larger purpose; Chris Cooper of Central Kentucky Ag Credit, who will offer a lender’s perspective on barriers to entry, business growth and financing opportunities; and John Genho of Eldon Farms in Woodville, Virginia, who will share strategies for improving operational efficiency and creating opportunities for long-term success.
The program will also feature a producer panel titled “Building Opportunity: Producer Perspectives,” interactive producer exchange sessions, an Operation Opportunity workshop and the UK Beef Extension Awards Luncheon.
Source : uky.edu