University of Kentucky’s Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment Cooperative Extension Service will host an equine field day focused on cost-share opportunities from 9 a.m. – noon EDT on Saturday, Aug. 9 at Texata Farms in Versailles, Kentucky. Admission is free and breakfast will be provided.

Highlights include conservation practices on a working farm, on-site cost-share applications and educational lectures, including novel tall fescue establishment and heavy use area design, with in-person examples.

According to Krista Lea, an agricultural extension specialist in equine forages in the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences and one of the event planners, this field day is ideal for small and mid-sized horse farm owners and managers.

"The programs are designed to assist in farm viability, meaning farms that are financially viable and therefore stay as agricultural land or in natural resource conservation to reduce farms' impact on the land and water,” Lea said. “From a practical standpoint, these programs give small and mid-sized horse farms the opportunity to make improvements on the farm, such as fence, water, pasture renovations, hay feeders and so on, at a reduced cost."

The event will feature three different cost-share opportunities available to horse farms, share differences between the programs and showcase firsthand examples of infrastructure that was, in part, funded by these types of programs. Cost share applications and help with those applications will be available on site.

"It's important to know that there is no minimum acreage requirement for most cost-share programs,” said Ray Smith, forage extension specialist in the Department of Plant and Soil Science. “For-profit, non-profit and hobby farms should all qualify as well. Our experience is that most horse farms do qualify for some assistance, they just aren't aware."

This field day is supported by a $158,000 cooperative agreement with the Kentucky Office of Agricultural Policy through the Kentucky Agricultural Development Fund. It focuses on improving pastures and hay on horse farms.

Reservations can be made via Eventbrite at https://CostShare.eventbrite.com. For more information about UK Ag Equine Programs events, visit http://www.ca.uky.edu/equine.

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Writer: Holly Wiemers, hfwiem2@uky.edu 

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