麻豆直播鈥檚 annual conference reaches new audiences, attracts beginning farmers
Thirty-five percent of participants at the 2022 Small, Limited-Resource, Minority Farmers Conference attended for the first time.
麻豆直播 Land Grant Program personnel are always looking for ways to expand their reach and interact with more stakeholders across Kentucky and beyond.
The Land Grant Program also prioritizes reaching beginning farmers, defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as anyone who has operated a farm or ranch for 10 years or less. On the first day of the conference, one of the tracks featured sessions specifically geared to beginning farmers, including the basics of farm business planning and introductions to organizations like the National Resources Conservation Service.
鈥淲e鈥檙e just getting our feet wet,鈥� said Tyler Buford, who purchased 200 acres in Owen County in 2020.
Buford and his wife Kristen have planted about 50 fruit trees, including apples, pears, peaches, blueberries, and fig. One thing he learned at the conference is the importance of a water treatment plan. What he learned, he said, 鈥渟aved me from making some mistakes鈥� on his farm.
The conference inspired him as a beginning farmer, he said, because who got 鈥渢o network with other farmers, people who are doing it at this level.鈥�
For two days of the conference, Buford was joined by the conference鈥檚 youngest attendee: his eight-month-old daughter, Malia.
鈥淚 would definitely come back again,鈥� Buford said.