With a recent census showing that Kentucky lost more than 500,000 acres of farmland in a 5-year stretch, state agriculture officials are urging farm families to start planning for the future. A daylong seminar in Owensboro on Wednesday will offer tools to help them do just that.
The Kentucky Farm Succession Seminar: Building the Bridge to Your Farm’s Future will run from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday at the Owensboro Convention Center. The event is hosted by University of Kentucky’s Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment and the Cooperative Extension Service, with support by the Kentucky Agricultural Development Fund.
The seminar aims to help farm families plan for the future, address business continuity, and protect farmland from development.
The most recent Census of Agriculture reported that Kentucky lost more than 6,000 farms and 500,000 acres of farmland between 2017 and 2022. Farmland preservation and farm transitions were identified as top priorities in the Strategic Roadmap for Kentucky Agriculture: 2025-2030.
“Farmland continues to be sold and developed at an alarming rate, and that is in part due to farm families not having a clear vision of how to allow the next generation to continue the operation,” said Clint Hardy, agriculture and natural resources agent for the Daviess County Cooperative Extension Service and seminar coordinator. “While age and health challenges are inevitable, farm families can also experience divorce, prolonged production losses, or the stress of workforce shortages. It is more important than ever to encourage these conversations long before a health, family, or financial issue arises.”
Speakers include Successful Farming columnist Jolene Brown, UK farm management specialist and extension professor Steve Isaacs, Kentucky Farmland Transition Initiative coordinator Aleta Botts, and University of Missouri farm and ranch transition specialist Wesley Tucker. The seminar will also feature a panel of estate law, farm business management, and financial advisors.
“Farm transition is the one absolute, unavoidable task facing every farm family,” Isaacs said. “It can be done well or poorly. That’s up to the family.”
Registration for the seminar is $35–$40 per person, depending on payment method. Lunch is included. For more information or to register, contact the Daviess County Cooperative Extension Service at 270-685-8480 or visit ca.uky.edu/event/kentucky-farm-succession-seminar.
