The Food Connection and UK Cooperative Extension Agriculture and Natural Resources, both housed in the UK Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, received a USDA Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program grant for $750,000 for KY Farm Launch, which is gearing up for its second group of new farmers. 

KY Farm Launch — a partnership between UK, the Kentucky Center for Agriculture and Rural Development (KCARD) and the Kentucky Sheep and Goat Development Office — provides hands-on training for beginning farmers. The USDA defines a “beginning farmer” as an individual with less than 10 years of experience as a primary owner or operator. One of the program’s goals is to address the decrease in the Kentucky farmer population. 

“We had a great first year of the KY Farm Launch program and graduated 29 farmers representing 23 beginning farm operations from across Kentucky and southern Ohio,” said Krista Jacobsen, associate professor in the Department of Horticulture. 

The training program lasts nine months, with weekly workshops on the sustainable production of vegetables, small fruits, beef cattle, sheep, goats and poultry. Business, management and market planning are woven into the courses as well. 

While Extension offers many resources for those wanting to learn to grow specific crops, this program is less location-based and more person-based. Participants will benefit from  one-on-one mentoring and a cohort of other beginning farmers in their same boat. 

“We are so grateful for our amazing first group of farmers,” Jacobsen said. “They spent nine months with us learning about starting and sustaining a farm business, producing sustainable vegetables, fruits and livestock, and building a wonderful, supportive community. We are looking forward to building on the successes of the 2025 year to continue to grow and improve the program and can’t wait to meet our new 2026 KY Farm Launch cohort!” 

For more information on KY Farm Launch and to apply to the 2026 cohort, visit https://bfrdp.mgcafe.uky.edu/. 

This material is based upon work that is supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under award number 2024-49400-43646. Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the Department of Agriculture. 

###  

Writer: Grace Sowards, grace.sowards@uky.edu 

The Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment is an Equal Opportunity Organization with respect to education and employment and authorization to provide research, education information and other services only to individuals and institutions that function without regard to economic or social status and will not discriminate on the basis of race, color, ethnic origin, national origin, creed, religion, political belief, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, marital status, genetic information, age, veteran status, physical or mental disability or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity.